Superblue

Have those transfer fees been inflated as they do not look like the fees that were quoted at the time when we brought these players. I'm sure Duff has even been quoted saying his transfer fee was £17m. And from what I can remember at the time Drogba's move was assumed around £24m, and I always thought Cech was around £7m.

That depends what type of player you want there. Do you want a player capable of receiving the ball and taking players on to create. If this is the case then Pulisic is better. Or do you want more of an inside forward who primarily is more of a goal threat than a creator and has the ability and understanding to make those runs from wide to centrally and also into the back post from an attack on the opposite flank. Currently, none of our wingers provide that style and as a result type of goal threat which I think Werner could provide playing there. I actually think Pulisic could develop that part of his game and score pretty regularly as a result but he's not quite there yet. Regardless, it gives us multiple options in that area of the pitch with different skill-sets. The players that are more traditional wingers, capable of taking on opposition players (Pulisic and CHO), the wide playmaker in Ziyech and the wide forward in Werner. Potentially very exciting times.

I think this once again lends credibility to the versatility within our ranks. Mount, RLC, Barkley and even Ziyech are all capable of lining up as one of the midfielders in a 4-3-3 and can tweak between playing deeper (4-3-3) or more advanced (4-2-3-1) to suit the flow of the game.

My take on Werner (and I don't want to get hopes up too much yet until everything is confirmed, but by the sounds of things it looks like it is far enough advanced that it is going to happen) - I think Lampard wanted that hybrid player that could play across the front line, including as a striker. It is why we were linked so heavily with Mertens, but Werner was always likely to be first choice in this regard. Ziyech and Werner boost our options significantly and are a big upgrade on the players likely to leave in those areas - Pedro, Willian and Batshuayi. Lampard looks like he is streamlining the squad by losing an extra player but hugely increased the quality and more importantly is bringing in two more players that he wants and will trust (compared to Pedro and Batshuayi). For me I can see Lampard utilising Werner both centrally and on the left. I feel there are times when he can play as a central striker because from what I've seen (1) he presses and works very hard which it's obvious Lampard has a preference for all his attacking players to do, (2) he looks to have very good movement off the ball and (3) he is lightning quick. I think against teams like Liverpool and City, and probably against the top European teams who will try to take us on the front foot, he could be a weapon we haven't really had to exploit these teams playing a high line. To be honest, the strikers we've had that have lightning speed have been few and far between. The last one I can really think of carrying that type of threat is Anelka. His movement and positional awareness would get him goals too. I like Tammy and I think he's had a very good season and can build on this to get even better but that knack sometimes at being in the right position in the box sometimes isn't quite there. You don't need to be the biggest to sniff those chances out. It's good to have a player that can hold the ball up or dominate aerially, but far more chances in the box come to a players feet. On the left, I think Werner will give Lampard something that he wants from our wingers this season and that's goals. He has a far greater knack of cutting inside and making the runs into the back post from his position (think Mane, Salah, Sterling). I think from what I've seen Pulisic has the potential to develop that too but isn't there yet, but I don't see it enough from Hudson Odoi (and obviously Willian) which makes me believe that he'll probably be better suited long term playing on the right rather than left where he can operate more as a winger than an inside forward. I think the other option his arrival will bring too is the ability to play with two central strikers. We won't likely use this very often from the start, but Lampard has found through the season that if we've been chasing an equaliser or a winner, bringing on a second striker hasn't worked. It will work much better with Werner who is more adept to playing as the second striker and off the main striker rather than say two of Tammy, Batshuayi and Giroud who would be looking to operate in the same areas and just condense further the areas trying to work in. The final point is I'm a big fan of German football players. They have an elite, very professional mentality. Even those that perhaps aren't the best technically seem to carry huge belief in what they are good at and are ruthlessly efficient with a small dose of arrogance.

I guess in some people's opinion the likes of Van Nistelrooy and Inzaghi were rubbish.

I read the article. Liverpool's scouts were the ones that rated him higher than Havertz and Sancho but I believe it was more so in terms of the fit into their team and Klopp's style. They mentioned his pace, ability to run in behind and versatility to play across the whole front line as big factors in this.

Much better than the 2 years of German I had to take then!

Out of curiosity, can Werner speak English?

Think Hazard and the Zidane effect. As long as we're still relevant and challenging for trophies, that will help Chelsea and Lampard in attracting players. He's also extremely intelligent and articulate in the media and I can only assume from that he's an excellent people person that players would enjoy being coached by.

I think this idea that Marina is the decision maker on who we buy and sell has been beaten to death in recent times. But the part about the last good player we purchased is interesting. The biggest issue for me which greys this area is the obvious shift in style/culture that the club decided to take when they appointed Sarri after 6 - 7 years continuously of Di Matteo, Benitez, Mourinho and then Conte. There are still a large group of players who were part of the previous team which were set up and drilled as a much more pragmatic, counter attacking, defensive minded team. Take the defence for example, besides the academy players, the rest of the defence across the back line were purchased by the club pre-Sarri and therefore brought for specific attributes that may not be in keeping with what we are trying to evolve now which is a more open, flowing, front foot style. Even of the academy players, Christensen enjoyed his best spell at the club under the management of Conte. There is still a huge amount of players at the club that were pre-Sarri and such a shift isn't just going to take a season or two. To compound what would already be a difficult short term task, we've had a transfer ban (although I think the introduction en masse of academy players has probably helped to accelerate to a degree what we're trying to aim towards), our best attacking player has left and now this Covid-19 situation which no one knows how this will impact football and especially the transfer market over the next couple of years. Are Jorginho, Kovacic and Pulisic the right type of signings for what we are trying to do. In my opinion they are, but there is a lot more evolution and development required of this team before we can fully judge. Somebody like Jorginho may not stay to see that through, and his transfer then will always be debated because there is no doubt in my mind that he has helped with the style shift that the club is trying to achieve but in an era of transition his transfer may not be viewed as a success. I think more patience is needed with some of our most recent signings before they can be truly judged. Hopefully the addition of Ziyech and a couple more this summer will help continue the squad's development.

The problem I have with Ampadu is that his career has stagnated over the last couple of seasons. If he had built on the game time he got under Conte when he first came here, he could very well be part of the first team squad now. When it was obvious last season that he wouldn't get game time under Sarri, he should have been loaned out in the January window, even to a Championship club and built up game time. This season at Leipzig has been similar to last season at Chelsea. It's a similar situation to what Loftus-Cheek found himself in for a couple of years. That example however is a good one to prove that he's still young enough to go out on loan for a season or two, play regular football and come back into the squad. Even a loan to the Championship next season would be fine if he plays regularly. He needs to develop and he won't get that being fourth or fifth choice in a couple of positions here next season.

I would prefer us to keep Jorginho next season, unless he agitates for a move or we receive an incredible offer from Juventus (which I doubt in the current climate). Gilmour looks a fantastic prospect and if he continues his current development curve will have that position nailed down long term at this club. However he's still very young and inexperienced. He will suffer from slumps in form, and will also have to learn steeply when opposition managers start identifying weaknesses to his game and looking to exploit them. Having him play a more prominent role the rest of this season and next, but still being rotated with Jorginho would be the best scenario. If after that, Gilmour looks to be ready to assume that role week in, week out Jorginho can always leave then. He'd still be 29 and in the way he plays could easily play well into his 30's. Especially if he went back to play in Italy. It's also important to consider the makeup and experience within the squad. If Pedro and Willian both leave this summer, that's two of our most experienced players leaving the club. There are still a lot of young, inexperienced players in the team that will still benefit from some guidance

I guess it depends if its at the detriment of us trying to buy Werner?!

In a positive or negative way?

I think at that point his price is much closer to those being quoted for Telles and Tagliafico, and then you can start to factor in how much easier he may find it to fit into what is becoming a core group of young British players, his experience of playing in the Premier League, and his age compared to alternative options. I am similar to you, I'm not overly pro or anti Chilwell. I think he was hyped too much earlier in the season as his defensive game still needs work and developing (which has been highlighted in recent times) but he does appear to have a lot of upside. My biggest worry has always been the price, and even in these times I see no reason for Leicester to drop their valuation significantly. They've already proven they're willing to hold on firm for the price they want (Mahrez, Drinkwater, Maguire). At the figures that have been quoted the last few months, I think its far too much. I think there's a bit of a difference with the three you highlighted. All were purchased for relatively cheap prices (I think all were under £10m) and they were all purchased initially as squad players to add to what we already had, so I don't think the initial pressure or expectation was there. All three proved to be phenomenal signings for us considering the fees paid and the service received. I think in someone like Chilwell's case though he'd be being brought for a lot more money and coming in as first choice and expected to fill a gap us fans have highlighted as one of our biggest problems in the team in recent times. There's a lot more expectation placed on that.

I would rather we still made a push for Telles. It might be 'just' the Portuguese league but his attacking output for a full back is pretty incredible and could give us a serious weapon out wide. Especially when the players we have who like to play left winger are right footed and have a preference to cut inside. However if that is not an option, I would take Tagliafico over Chilwell, assuming that Leicester would want £60 - 70m for him.

On the subject of Bakayoko, I haven't been tracking him in detail but from what I've heard he's played well this season at Monaco and was obviously excellent in the season at Monaco before we brought him. He also ended up having a pretty good season at Milan last time too. I don't watch much European football anymore but I don't think the French or Italian leagues are either the pace or quality of our league and maybe more time on the ball helps aid some of his technical limitations which were showed up when he was here. PSG I think lack that type of physical presence in their midfield and as he's always performed well in France, perhaps that's why they're interested. I would tend to agree though, I would have expected PSG to set their sights higher. To be honest I'm willing for anybody to take him off our hands for a realistic fee right now!

Everything that I have read previously suggests that she has nothing to do with picking the players. I think managers have had more say in transfers than is suggested, but they must also be approved by the scouting department. In my opinion all of the signings in 2017 were approved by Conte, but his issue was that they weren't necessarily his first choices (mainly because the players he wanted to bring in were generally older and the club were more focused on buying younger, emerging players). Sarri similarly would have requested Jorginho and apparently also wanted Kepa at Napoli. Ziyech has also mentioned how he spoke with Lampard a number of times before agreeing to move (so it's clear Lampard wanted him). I think one example where this is perhaps not the case may be Pulisic (who Sarri seemed to suggest he wasn't involved in) but I think this signing was made on the basis that Sarri wouldn't be there when Pulisic arrived and was a deal the club wanted to make. I just think that the signings the manager requests must fit into the club's policies and if they don't or are deemed unattainable then a scouted option is the next step. I also think the scouting department is key at to deciding the value of the player that she should be negotiating for. Her negotiations for say a player like Drinkwater will be dictated by the scouts at the club (namely the chief scout Scott McLachlan) as to what the market value and a "good deal" would be. She will negotiate as hard as possible for the best price given the market situation but I firmly believe she will have been advised to go as high for Drinkwater as we did. Where she could possibly be criticised is the perceived lack of leeway within her negotiations (e.g. if she was given a value of £50m for Alex Sandro as an example and Juventus wanted £55m, she refuses to go beyond the valuation she's been advised to get the first choice target and would rather move to target two. Unfortunately that's just the way it is and whilst it will hold us back on some deals, it also ensures we are no longer push overs in the transfer market. Similar goes for selling players. We've probably turned down some great deals in hindsight such as selling Willian, but again I'd rather us be in this position with regards to selling players, compared to 10-15 years ago when we pretty much used to give players away if they didn't work out. That sort of business back then, made it extremely difficult initially to transition into operating much more responsibly in the transfer market.

I rate Arthur, but in my opinion central midfield is one of our strongest areas of the pitch and is actually pretty well balanced both in terms of ages and different variations. With the late season emergence of Gilmour and Loftus-Cheek to come back in, we have an abundance in midfield (especially when Mount and Barkley both in my opinion look far better in a 4-3-3 set up than further forward). There are question marks over the futures of Jorginho and Kante and Arthur could be a good replacement for Jorginho but we already have Gilmour primed for that slot. I think if we were to buy a midfielder, we'd be better placed to look at more of a destroyer, holding midfield type than another ball player. I think with Trincao, unless he is available very cheap, I don't think we should be looking to buy another young player in that position with a lot of potential when we already have Pulisic and CHO there. Sancho is a different animal altogether because he's more than just potential despite his young age. For the make up of the squad I would rather someone with a bit more experience to replace Willian and Pedro (like the signing of Ziyech).

I think it just highlights how bad their squad is outside of the half dozen players they don't want to sell. None of those players stand out at me as a great deal to get involved in. The youngsters are essentially punts on whether they're better than our own crop. The centre backs - I've never personally rated Lenglet and Umtiti hasn't been the same player for a while now. Right back and central midfield for me are two of the last positions we need to be worrying about right now. Suarez is too old, Dembele is way too risky with his injury proneness. It only really leaves Coutinho and I think there are better options out there to spend that amount of money on. If it meant getting him on more favourable terms for a loan deal for next season, I'd certainly be up for that (especially if we lose both Pedro and Willian after this season), but I wouldn't like to commit a large transfer fee on him.

The key to this is 'If agreed by both parties'. In a selfish mindset, if I was a footballer and my contract was running down and I was expecting to leave the club why would I risk staying on for an extra month or two to play another 8-10 games? If they picked up a serious injury that would then prevent them getting a new contract with another club after this, that would be my chief concern if I was in their position. The problem is if we can't get Pedro and Willian to agree to this (I assume reading the reports that Giroud can have another year triggered), we are left at a massive disadvantage as two of our players who have been registered to play in the second half of this season are no longer obligated to. We're not the only team in this boat, but if that were to happen I cannot see how that still keeps things a fair and level playing field, unless we were allowed special dispensation to replace one of them with Ziyech (which I'm sure would be opposed by other teams).

I like him but I think it's an area of the pitch that we're well stocked in. If we're still planning to spend big money this summer I would much rather it be on a number of different areas before midfield.

I just cannot see Levy offering a big money 3 year contract to a soon to be 32 year old. As unlikeable as he is, he's clearly not an idiot when it comes to business and surely even he knows that Mourinho is almost certainly not going to last the terms of that 3 year contract and the club will be left with an ageing, declining player on big money for a new manager to deal with. In the current situation (we don't know the effects for our football club), I wouldn't be against offering Willian a 2 year contract if we're holding back on spending money this summer (I'd rather keep Willian over Pedro if the choice is there) but in no way should he be getting a 3 year contract at his age and with his inconsistencies.

It would be the other way around would it not? Striking option that can play as a winger in an emergency?

Yeah completely agree, no player can be rightfully assessed until they come here and succeed or fail. I probably should have been more clearer, but what I meant was the Ziyech deal looked like tremendous value in the market a couple of months ago just based on transfer fees and prices quoted around the continent. It will be interesting to see if that valuation still holds up after this situation. The assumption would be not, but perhaps players in that sort of price bracket will hold their price better because there may be a greater demand for them now, as the players in higher price brackets (e.g. Sancho) are much more difficult to afford then they may have been before all of this.