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The structure has to be right in order to promote this (and that doesn't necessarily mean having a manager for a significant long term), but that's not to say we won't ever. The club will have seen the benefit to RLC and CHO breaking through this season because we have now two multi million pound first team players in the squad that we've paid nothing for. I'm firmly of the belief that the first one or two to break through was vital for the rest. Recent reports regarding a new contract and possibly the 10 shirt for CHO suggest we're looking at him to replace Hazard in that left wing position so that is a start. And regardless of this, whether such a structure is present or not we could be forced into this approach this coming season. If we don't buy Kovacic we have Barkley, Kante and Jorginho in midfield so we're going to have to take a punt on someone like Mount or Ampadu. Similarly up front, if Bats isn't brought back then it will have to be Tammy to be understudy to Giroud. If some of these players perform and make the step up, why would Chelsea need to replace them within the squad. It fills homegrown criteria, promotes our academy and saves us millions.

This, for me, is why the transfer ban can work in our favour. I'm not expecting the club to blood masses of youth players and they all become world class. If we get any more players at a similar level to RLC and CHO (i.e. first choice quality) then that will be phenomenal. But just as importantly we need some of these youth players to become good, solid squad options. I think back to United in the Fergie era and they always had young players coming through who never really materialised into first choice but were trusted by the manager and team to be solid squad players - Brown, O'Shea, Evans, Welbeck, etc. If this transfer ban allows us to find some players in a similar bracket it will allow us to focus next summer on 2 or 3 players of the highest quality to improve our first XI rather than trying to make our budget spread across 5, 6, 7 players because we need squad options too. We should never be paying the money we did for the likes of Zappacosta and Drinkwater to be backups. Once started it should become much easier for more to follow, and I hope with the emergence of Christensen in the last 2 seasons and RLC and CHO this season, it's the start of reaping the rewards of our academy.

I'm all for screwing as much out of them as possible but we all have to be realistic just how weak a position we're in. He wants to leave, only wants to move to one particular club and has one year on his contract. He's 29 during next season too so this isn't a long term investment signing for them either like say Ronaldo or Bale were. And for us it's simply not feasible to keep him when we're talking these sorts of figures, and see him leave next summer for nothing. Also what would we get out of an unhappy player next season, very unlikely their 100%. Add to this we still need to potentially deal with Madrid to buy Kovacic. He may not be everyone's cup of tea but realistically he's the only option we have to prevent us going into next season with only 3 fit senior midfielders. Unless we're going to be giving Drinkwater or Bakayoko more chances?! The club may have been able to milk a few more million out and push the initial fee up towards £100m but if reports are true those add-ons equate to an extra £42m. That is a significant amount and as I said previously, I would expect the add ons to be realistic. Sometimes you have to roll the dice and gamble a little bit. We can't even use this money for the next 12 months. This time next season the total fee with add ons could be up past £100m by then before we can reinvest in our squad and it'll be looking like a bloody good deal.

Hopefully it means hands off hes in our squad next season!

According to reports the add ons are all pretty achievable. It's annoying but a lot of these deals are like this. I'm pretty sure Morata was £58m up to £70m with add ons. The one thing the club has done in recent seasons is driven a hard bargain with selling players so I'd be surprised if these clauses were unrealistic to be achieved.

Will be interesting to see if we go in for Kovacic what they'll be demanding from us? If we have decided to buy him then hopefully that has also been discussed and we'll be getting some form of discounted deal from them. It is frustrating in recent seasons to see two of our best players leave for them on hugely discounted transfers because of their contract situations, and we've been fleeced royally off them for Morata.

By the looks of things Chelsea are hanging their hat on CHO being his replacement.

There's always new players having breakthrough years, continuing their development, etc - hopefully we'll be looking back at this next summer with a couple of our own!

The only worry I have is up front and who is going to replace (and the aim would be to improve on) the goals that Hazard brought to the team. I could cope for a season with every other position (even left back) but that one worries me. Not to forget also that one player who could have shouldered some of the goal scoring burden in RLC is out long term too. We are relying on Giroud who if he played regularly in the league would probably score 10-12 goals in all likelihood - will that be enough? Or we're relying on either Bats or Tammy to come back and blow up which from what I've seen would be unlikely and we'd be hugely fortunate if it did. On the flip side I don't see an awful lot of options we could go for up front on the market currently. Add to this so many other teams looking to spend big potentially in the market this summer to rebuild and we may be in a better position just to stand our ground and look to rebuild next summer when hopefully less big teams are as active. That's not just up top but in other areas of our team that need addressing also.

I have a number of previous posts on here with my belief that he would sign a new deal, and also supporting how Sarri developed him through the season. When it was clear that he was going to play games, get paid well and likely replace Hazard why wouldn't he sign? Although a few have recently, historically very few English players move to play abroad unless its the only option. I know Sancho has gone there and done well but Bayern Munich is a step up from Dortmund and Sancho needed a year over there to truly break through. Also Sancho had already moved once from London to Manchester. CHO has been here his whole youth career, won lots of trophies at youth level and has had a breakthrough season at 18 years old! If it was all about the benefit of his development and his career, to me we always looked the sensible and obvious option for him. I'm delighted. At a time with Hazard leaving it's a huge shot in the arm for the club. Hopefully he can get back to full fitness, kick on and make Hazard's old spot in the team his own and that money then can be used on other areas of the squad. I hope RLC is the next one now for a new deal. Whilst things perhaps look a little bleak at present with the managerial situation, transfer ban and Hazard leaving, I think there are some seriously exciting and high quality players within our squad and with a bit of patience and calm I see these developing into big players over the next couple of seasons and with a couple of quality additions when we get chance to I'm confident we'll be back challenging at the top again.

No but will be very pleased with this. No need to bend over for them, squeeze as much out as we can. Currently we can't buy anyone so we might as well have some fun with teams trying to buy our players and bleed them for every penny possible.

He should not be given a free pass, he has to perform like everybody else does. I do think he'll be better placed than Sarri has been from a media perspective to be able and more willing to explain things that he may be trying to change with the club or what things are or aren't working. Sarri hardly helped himself in the media I don't think. Obviously results still need to take place on the pitch but I think if Lampard did come in and came out at the start of the season and said that with the transfer restrictions we're going to lean more on the younger players to play a bigger role but it'll take some time I think the fans would accept that. The notion of the board giving him time is an interesting one because I am firmly of the belief that in recent years the club has done a lot more to give managers time. Mourinho had us flirting with the relegation zone well past Xmas before he was finally given the boot (and there were clearly issues with some players in the squad), Conte was speculated to be given the boot early on in his tenure before he switched to a back 3 and also on a number of occasions last season and the club retained him. I believe they would have also given him more time and wouldn't have sacked him after last season if he hadn't fallen out with the board and been openly critical. And Sarri similarly has been through some sticky situations this season and the club didn't pull the trigger and if rumours are to be believed it's Sarri and not the club pushing for his exit this summer. The media speculation mid season surrounding Conte and Sarri being sacked was an easy story for the media given our past record with managers, but I don't believe the club was closest in the slightest to getting rid of them at those stages in time. Of course actions speak louder than words and until it potentially happened its difficult to speculate. If Lampard came in, bombed and we were mid table and going nowhere then you're right the club would have to seriously consider his future. However if Lampard kept us consolidated within the top 6 (which should still be attainable) and had integrated another couple of younger players into the team then I do believe the board will give him some leeway and time.

I don't think a core group of fans would have an issue with this (I certainly wouldn't), but the board will then need to appreciate a genuine period of transition may be necessary and not be expecting immediate results.

The lack of a top level striker and RLC's injury are what will hurt us next season regardless of manager coming in but I still don't think they'll be much difference between the 4 teams challenging for the 2 other Champions League places again. It'll be interesting to see what Giroud would possibly manage to do as first choice next season. Perhaps playing regularly in the Premier League he could push for around Hazard's numbers for goals (what was it this season 16?), and if others chip in around him it may be enough next season. When fully fit, I believe we have a better well rounded team than both United and Arsenal and that's even without Hazard. There are huge question marks over those two teams and major surgery needed. Arsenal likely won't spend the money they need to and United in recent seasons have been abysmal with their transfer policy. If some transfer reports are correct too, they are targeting a lot of younger talents too and may be looking at a bit more of a long term view of things which will also take some time. The only thing in my opinion Spurs has going for them over us is a proven goalscorer which will time and again bail them out of tight games, but they too are in desperate need of freshening up and there's talk of Poch breaking a fair amount of this team up so you don't know which way for the short term that will lead.

Vanity possibly the wrong word to use, but they do have a glut of players in those positions. No doubt Hazard is an upgrade in that position but I feel he's an expensive upgrade when other areas need focus. For example if I were Real Madrid I would much rather buy a world class player on the right hand side. Their central midfield group could do with getting a bit younger too and the full backs may well be replaced. If he's happy with that role then that is fine, but (1) would Hazard really be happy to start being phased out himself in a couple of years time when he's only 30? and (2) I have my doubts Vinicius would be content in a backup role having enjoyed a first team role this season. Difficult to go from first choice to backup at the same club without becoming unhappy.

Their rebuilding is sensible, bringing in players who will have a far longer term impact at the club and should help propel them back to the top over the next couple of seasons. Hazard is the vanity, 'Galactico' purchase it seems. They don't necessarily need him, but it's the big name buy synonymous with Madrid and important for the President, sponsors, fans, etc. I'm particularly interested what they'll do with Vinicius playing in Hazard's position, unless one is shunted to the right or Hazard is used centrally. If he doesn't get sufficient game time this coming season he may be someone worth keeping an eye out for the following year once our ban is over because he looks to have a lot of potential.

David Luiz and Azpi will likely be captain and vice captain next season and both are very professional and always seem good with the younger members of the squad, etc. I don't see any problems with them whatsoever. Willian had the spat with Conte but besides this he's seemed professional too and whether we like it or not, he'll have to assume responsibility next season as one of our main attacking outlets when Hazard leaves, and with CHO injured and Pulisic likely needing some adjustment time. I don't see this as a problem. If anything if Lampard came in, he would probably lean on them for a bit of experience and knowing what some of the old characters in the squad were like.

Seriously if that is the level we're looking at then we are in trouble. With the greatest respect to Javi Gracia what exactly has he done? Watford are one of the most inconsistent teams in the league and although a cup final is a great day out for them, all sorts of weird and wonderful teams have reached the final in recent years. Not to mention they got annihilated once they reached the final. A journeyman manager that has offered nothing to suggest getting excited about, and not to mention he's on a ridiculously long contract with Watford so the compensation I would expect to be pretty hefty. I'm not sure if I cope with a third instalment of Jose, but I would take him without blinking over some of these managers being linked to us.

The FA being punished within this is an interesting sidenote and suggests that any wrongdoings may be as a result of mis-advising from them. Given their standing as a governing body, if they've made a cock up it would surely give reasonable grounds as an argument but would also suggest if this ban is upheld we're likely not the only team in England who will fall foul.

We had such a good side back in that period between 97 - 00, it's easy to forget about it now with the success we've had since. But it was a great time growing up, we played some great attacking football at that time. We only finished 4 points behind the treble winning United side in 99. Bloody Steve Guppy equalised late for Leicester at the Bridge when we were 2 goals up near the end of the season which really screwed us over. We were probably just a player or two away from winning the league and more trophies during that period. Deschamps came in and struggled unfortunately and Hasselbaink was a couple of years too late for that group. The other problem was most of that side was old and the window was so short for them. By the time Ranieri came in it was already on its last legs and needed rebuilding.

A few rumours of Steve Holland. Similar to Lampard would be a risk, especially as he's never been a 'number 1' before but has a wealth of coaching experience, knowledge of the club, and I don't think would be scared to give young players chances. Could be an interesting wildcard option.

One thing I'm not sure whether it has been brought up yet or not is how important this win was for continuing to breed a winning culture at the club. Those experiences are so important. Just look at some of the players that stepped up in a big way - Luiz, Azpi, Kante, Hazard, Pedro. They know how to win and get over the line and that experience and confidence helps instil in the rest of the team. Arsenal fell apart in the second half and that lack of experience and character running through their squad is a big reason for that. It's a shame that Liverpool and Spurs are contesting the final, not just because I hate both teams to the core, but because one group of players will experience their first major trophy together and could potentially help them kick on and win more.

Apparently the rumours coming out of Italy are that Guardiola has something in his contract allowing him to walk if City aren't in the Champions League and if they get this ban it would allow him to walk, hence the Juventus links. Seems a bit of a reach to me. I can actually see him going to Juventus eventually, just not at present.

With how media savvy he's been this whole time, you'd think he would wait until its confirmed before doing things like that. I'm sure he only needs to wait a week or two and he'll be being paraded round by that mob as their new Galactico being told to kiss the badge and dry hump the shirt to show his 'love for Madrid'.

One of my primary concerns is will this become yet another let off for some players. I know we have the ban so offloading a few will likely be impossible but any of us can see that CHO needs to be given plenty of opportunities when he's back fit, but will he be back behind Pedro and Willian who are internationally recognised. Will RLC be in a similar position. The club should be selling Zappa this summer and integrating James into the first team squad, but would this happen? I have major concerns with a continental manager such as Allegri, some of the evolution of this squad that can still take place despite the ban next season won't happen.