OneMoSalah

A blinder v City, just waiting for Aguero to absolutely destroy him and Jagielka, like every other CB pairing in the PL.

Think Moutinho isn't exactly the sort of guy I would go for now we have Cesc. Ideally if Ramires was a bit more disciplined and could play like his levels from 2011/12 he'd be the guy to play in a 3 with Matic and Cesc. Essien/Ballack would be ideal for this Chelsea team... if only...

Well I think we really do need a more dynamic midfielder who is good a solid box to box player and an effective ball winner, someone in the mould of a Nainggolan, Marchisio, Strootman, Perez or similar. I think Witsel is a decent player and that but really, not exactly Chelsea standard. Maybe say the same of Nainggolan but still. Really gutted we didn't try and get Rakitic to be honest, although it was obvious he was wanted by Barca but a MF of Rakitic - Matic - Cesc would be class. Someone who is rounded like him but also at a high level.

Who said Witsel was available? There are much much better MF players out there than Witsel. He's gonna cost an arm and a leg because he plays for Zenit, who pay him very very well on a long term contract and bought him for a whole lot of money. The fact he's not exactly developed much since going there either it makes no sense to try and buy him from Zenit. He moved to Russia for a huge salary so do you think he's gonna come here on a lower salary, to play a bit part role? I really don't.

Courtois Ivanovic Cahill JT Azpi Cesc Matic Pedro Willian Hazard Costa Probably be our best team so it makes sense, genuinely excited to see Pedro play.

If he doesn't put in a transfer request pull the plug. Everton will never get a higher offer than 34M or whatever for him in the next few transfer windows.

I don't think he's ever been good enough to play here. Obviously if he'd sit on the bench maybe but yet again I don't think he's really kicked on at all since being at Benfica. Matic came here to test himself at a higher level, Hulk and Witsel went to Russia for a fuckload of money. I don't get why you would go from a higher standard of football to a poorer standard of football, even for the money, baffles me. Let him go to Italy, I'd rather we looked elsewhere to be honest, there are better players.

Not happening. He will go to Barca/Real eventually.

Neither is John Stones. I don't think he is a better talent than Kurt Zouma so the price we could pay for him is ridiculous. I think he screams average, he's good on the ball but we've seen that being good on the ball doesn't mean you're automatically a class defender (like David Luiz and Hummels). If he weren't English I don't think this forum or anybody would rate him as highly as he is. I mean Ross Barkley is the same and so were guys like Jordan Henderson and Theo Walcott... more than average players who were severely overrated since they were English.

You're not playing that card are you, really? Might as well say 'Jay Rodriguez is maybe better than Neymar because he plays with Pelle and not Neymar' or something like that. Varane is miles better and is worth every penny of the 40M that we are gonna probably bid for Stones. I can't believe we've gone beyond 30M for Everton, there are much better CBs out there, just a pity they aren't English.

Yes but still he was pretty poor, well marshalled by Kompany and Mangala. He hit the post too but his performance didn't really warrant a goal. The fact is Fabregas gets criticized for never showing up in ANY big games, which is a lie but guys defend Costa and Hazard if they dont. Its odd.

Well to be honest they have in some games and they also haven't in some games. PSG for instance but I don't think anybody showed up and also Man City last year Costa was pretty useless. Its not like Hazard hasn't had an off day in a big game, like Cesc has done or anyone for that matter but people will complain about Cesc not or lacking in certain parts of games but not Hazard. The double standards on this forum at times is horrendous.

He is gonna be a huge player in the next few years. He still needs to play regularly but at Monaco he has a great environment to develop and I said it in another thread he's got pace, power, links well with team mates, good ball control, can finish too. Hopefully he has a great campaign with Monaco and develops more and more. Hes going to be the number 1 striker at Monaco now for sure.

Yeah he's 19 or 20but people were saying he was ready to be in the squad here after his season in Spain. He still needs a whole lot of work. Wouldn't mind Martial coming here, looks like he will be a top striker eventually. He only cost Monaco 5M euros... although he was 17 at the time but still..

Thank fuck somebody said this. But honestly by the sounds of this thread, I suppose we might as well sell Hazard, Willian, Oscar and Costa too considering they've not shown up in big games as well.

Hopefully he will get a start v WBA, his running in behind defences for a winger is exceptional and I feel he could really give us another dimension in that regard. Can't believe people were saying we had to be more ambitious/sign a better player... absolutely crazy. Cannot wait to see him play to be fair.

I think if he played anywhere that wasn't Italy people would also think the same but I personally feel he is just as good as Stones if not better. If he were English and playing in the PL he'd be rated at 30-40M too.. don't see the whole Stones wankfest, he's a decent English prospect but personally I think we should of looked elsewhere as soon as they turned down the 24 or 26M bid. There are so many CBs out there, it baffles me we are constantly trying to get Stones without actually having a plan B by the sounds of it incase Everton don't sell.

He is the one player along with Hazard and Azpi who has developed a lot under Jose, he needs to stay here, definitely.

Fuck me after however many years of guys like a past it Lampard, physically struggling Essien, Ramires with his 'shite technique', naive and clueless David Luiz and average Meireles you'd think we'd be fucking glad to sign a boy of this calibre for central midfield.... a season later and we need to drop him for big games/sign another midfielder to replace him in those games. We should probably play a 433 and yes we should of perhaps signed another central midfielder but to play in tandem with Matic and Fabregas, not replace either of them but we haven't and that is not his fault. Sometimes when I read this thread and also Costa's and see all the shite about needing to replace them in big games/sign somebody better it makes me wonder what the fuck you guys have been smoking because those two along with Eden were absolutely vital to us winning the league. Without Costa or Fabregas we wouldn't have won the league, Hazard was very good but there were times Cesc and Costa were the difference. Hazard didn't carry us by himself, despite what you'd think reading some stuff on here, Cesc was just as vital in periods of the season and so was Costa.

Possible alternative to Stones? Dutch CB at Lazio, 23 years old, 28 caps for Holland was at the 2014 World Cup. Seen him in the World Cup and thought he was good (well the whole Dutch team was surprisingly better than we probably all expected), surprised he went to Lazio and not United with LvG like most people the other year. Good in possession, reads the game well, for his age someone quite a lot of experience and also was captain at Feyenoord for a bit but was then stripped of it due to poor form. I watched the Lazio-Leverkusen game and also the Lazio-Juventus game where they lost the final (which was expected Juventus are a class above most teams in Italy)... but against Leverkusen he looked very very solid and looked to play forward when he could when they were building from deeper, at times when he was under pressure too, he could be an alternative to Stones who many believe we are wanting due to his potential, distribution and age, I'm not sure if he is as quick across the ground as Stones is but he is undoubtedly a good CB, just as good if not better (there are actually a fair amount of CBs out there we could go after instead of Stones for the money mentioned). Obviously we haven't been linked with him and it is more than likely he will stay in Italy but he is good enough to play in England, only a matter of time before he makes the move, still surprised United haven't been linked with him at all this summer.

Meh he wasn't that great, few decent passes and runs but other than the goal he didn't stick out. The boy Parejo who plays for Valencia looks a good player, Martial was also Monaco's best player by a mile. Clever footballer, I don't want to hype him up too much but he looks like he has all the attributes to be similar to Thierry Henry in terms of playing style: pacey, strong, good dribbler, drifts out to the left wing a lot to cut in, links well and can find his team mates.. obviously he didn't score but he got a rebound goal that was from his own shot, the reaction speed was quite impressive, be interesting to see how he does but he looks like someone who will be a top player.

Generally excited. He's someone who will make good runs off the ball which I feel Hazard or Willian don't do enough for wide players. He could score 10 goals or more this season, especially with Cesc and Hazard in the team. Willian must play more as a 10 now.

A player who is past it? This thread is getting ridiculous at times. He is 28 years old, he has 4 or 5 seasons ahead of him where he can play at a very high level. Unconvincing displays? Hardly, you put Hazard in that Barcelona squad and he would probably sit on the bench for 2 or 3 years more often than not because of their front 3. As Peace posted on his stats last season, he hardly started but when he did and when he came on he made an impact. You in particular wanted us to sign guys like Fekir or Felipe Anderson, players who have done less, aren't as good at this moment in time and won't even improve our starting 11. You even said Pedro is another Schurrle/Cuadrado in terms of technical ability which is even more laughable. We won't get Marco Reus or Gareth Bale, so people have to get off FIFA and FM and realize that its not going to happen. I've made a list of things why I think he'd be a good signing: 1) he is affordable and open to moving 2) he is a very very good and complete player, plays both wings, scores goals, makes them 3) he is ultimately better than Willian,Oscar,Ramires,Cuadrado, Moses on the wing 4) he would bring a wealth of experience and in terms of trophies he has won everything at club&international level 5) he would be very hungry to prove himself again Why would he be a bad move or an underwhelming move? Ozil, Di Maria, Sanchez and Fabregas are all players who have left Real and Barca in the last few years and they are all top players. They only ended up at those two clubs in the first place because they were really good players and it really is the same with Pedro. They are only letting him go because like the rest of them, he has asked to leave. Its clear we need a player/players but not like we need 6 or 7 for our first 11 maybe one or two. City looked a different team with just Sterling in their starting 11 and guys like Kompany and Toure back at their best. We looked a different team with Courtois, Fabregas, Costa in our team last year. Few years before hand United looked a different team with Van Persie in their team. Sometimes it can take one or two top players to add something, sometimes just one, if he is the right player.

No it was very disrespectful, fucking hell.... Ok look at it this way, imagine being the manager... having your tactics and judgement constantly questioned and being repeatedly undermined by guys who at any other club would probably have been sold/released. I still don't know why Lampard wasn't either fined or shown the door for the way he was heavily involved to be honest, the same with whoever else from the squad who was at it. Think Roman was never completely going to back Andre though when it went shite but at any other club if a player or multiple players acted like that constantly, to question and undermine the manager like they did, they would have been sold/released. Winning a Champions League trophy and FA cup doesn't make how Lampard and whoever else, behaved/acted acceptable in the build up to his sacking AT ALL.

Tell them to go fuck themselves and look somewhere else. 30M bid was too much but now 40 or 50M? They can get to fuck.