Superblue

For me he is just as important as Hazard to keep hold of this summer. In the same way where Hazard's style of play is almost irreplaceable and would leave a huge attacking void, there is no one in world football anywhere near as good as Kante in what he does and our midfield would be lifeless without him. I feel as well in a more attack minded team he would thrive more where a game becomes more open and allows him to press and push higher up.

The players are back in today. Fabregas' instagram shows him in Cobham getting a massage. I would assume this was always the plan to get them in over the weekend for tests, etc before it starts properly on Monday. Still wondering who will be taking training on Monday mind!

I understand that the club has (and rightly) learnt its lesson from a number of previous mistakes, especially with regards to paying huge compensation packages for new managers and sacked managers alike. But the risks we could be taking here deciding to keep on Conte would be huge. Another season outside the top 4 will affect revenue streams significantly, as well as sponsorship deals, ability to attract top players, etc. This will have far more damning and long term consequences than paying £15-20m to get Sarri and sack Conte and his staff. I would happily forego one of our transfer targets in order to get this done as for me this is first priority. I was really disappointed with the petulance and sulking that Conte showed this season and there is no doubt it had a huge negative affect on the players. I can't see how that will suddenly change and if anything, if he doesn't want to be there either, he will be incredibly unmotivated and simply go through the motions. This is a huge worry if we don't make the changes we need to make.

I do actually think if Conte hadn't been so volatile this season, and had concentrated on the team the board would have backed him for another season despite missing out on top 4. I've seen changes in this during the reigns of Mourinho and Conte which suggests they are much less willing to pull the trigger on a manager and will only do so as a final necessity. This is why I also believe if Sarri does come here and he backs up what he has said previously (doesn't want to get involved in transfers, just wants to concentrate on coaching and developing what he is given) he will be given time by the club to put his style and tactics across.

Conte already made a comment at the end of last season saying the board know what he is and he won't be changing anything. The tactics got massively found out last season and the only change was a 3-5-2 which made things even worse in my opinion as a lot of the success last season was based on the speed of attack we had with three forward players given licence to do so. You are right on the face of things it is a mess. The optimist in me still hopes and believes that the club will make things right and get what's needed done. Although I'd be lying if I didn't say that optimism has definitely eroded somewhat in the last couple of days.

How is Conte staying going to benefit us? He clearly doesn't want to be here. The board clearly don't want him here, they're just unwilling to pay him off. I feel if Conte stayed, he wouldn't be too bothered and would go through the motions in a similar way to our slump at the start of the year. On top of that there is clearly a problem with some of our players with him, particularly most of our flamboyant and creative players who are fed up setting up defensively game after game. He deserves a lot of praise for the first season, but he is also equally culpable for last season and the club cannot take the risk that last season would be repeated in my opinion.

If Sarri falls through i think we'll get Blanc. I just cannot see how Conte's position at the club is nothing but untenable. He clearly doesn't want to be at the club, and we would have to suffer another season of infighting and poor football quality, not to mention the likelihood of a nucleus of players wanting out.

It definitely makes sense to buy younger players from a risk perspective. We have been burnt badly buying players like Shevchenko for big money with no resale value if it was to bomb. Your case in point with Barkley, if he doesn't perform this season I'm pretty sure we could still sell him next summer for £15-20m comfortably, meaning the risk in buying him is far more minimal. I think Arsenal used to adopt a one year policy over 30 and around this same time they started losing a lot of their big players around this age (Henry, Vieira). We have shown in the past that some of our older players remained critical to the success we have achieved. I hope that this policy we have adopted won't have the same affect that it did with Arsenal and we start losing players like Azpilicueta because the club are only prepared to offer one year contracts when he turns 30.

I think the stance may have softened a little buying Giroud and the impact he had on lifting the team in the second half of the season. I do think the one year contracts at 30 years old is silly and deals should be taken on an individual basis. 30 years old is not what it was like 10-15 years ago, and many players are still playing at a peak level into their early 30's. Also consider the likes of Cole, Lampard and Drogba putting in stellar performances to winning the Champions League well into their 30's. However I do think the price being bandied for Higuain is too much. If he was available for somewhere around £25-30m I do think the club may consider it.

Yeah his work rate has never been a problem, his tactical discipline and speed across the first 5-10m is the problem.

Schmeichel would be a Drinkwater mk.II. Don't get me wrong he's a good keeper and has matured and improved significantly over the last 3 or 4 years, carving his own career out of his father's shadow. But in my opinion he is at the level he should be at. It will be extremely difficult to find a keeper as good as Courtois to replace him should he leave because he's probably within the top 5 in the world. But we should be going for a higher calibre with the greatest respect to Schmeichel.

Not much chance of being overrun in midfield if him and Kante were paired together. They'd be the equivalent of four centre mids!

He looks like a very good player and I can see how his skill set would appeal to Sarri and his style of football. What impressed me the most about watching him today is he clearly looks the classiest and most naturally talented player in the Russia squad, but he was prepared to work just as hard as everybody else. There was one moment in particular in extra time when he saw the danger of a counter attack and sprinted back some 50-60 yards down the pitch to cut it out when the team could have ended up in trouble. He looks like a very accomplished player on the ball and appears to have a very deceptive acceleration. Lot's of upside and for the price being quoted, I feel is well worth taking the chance on him.

Agreed I think everything is as good as sewn up, it all comes down to dates, etc. The financial year-end is June so perhaps the club want to defer the termination payment for Conte into next year, or Sarri's compensation. I even read somewhere that Napoli would terminate Sarri's contract in July once Ancelotti officially joins. There seems to have been so many reports regarding things being triggered once July hits, I'm pretty sure things will fall into place over the coming days.

I agree with you about the World Cup hype, but we had links with him before the World Cup so I assume he's been scouted extensively during his time at CSKA.

How many posts have you just wrote the same thing?

Someone would pay at least £20m for him I believe. He's not a bad player by any stretch, he's just the level below the top level. He'd be a good buy for anyone outside the top 6. Proven Premier League, European, International experience. Still got a lot to offer at his age. The inflated English/Homegrown fee to add on too.

There were a few reports at the start of the week that RLC would be loaned out again next season and if Drinkwater is sold it would leave 6 midfielders for a likely 3 man position, which sounds realistic. Barkley and Bakayoko have it all to prove, and Fabregas I think will be phased out over this next season before leaving at the end of his contract.

Hopefully is also a good sign for Sarri too as apparently he's a big fan and wanted Napoli to move for him this summer.

Would be happy with this. 25m euros apparently which seems more than reasonable in todays market. My only worry is Russians tend to struggle in England but he's still young.

The worst possible scenario for the club will be if they decide to penny pinch paying off Conte and keep him on. He's lost his motivation and his swagger, and his defensive tactics have lost the support of a lot of the fans and players. If the club don't pull the trigger and we have another terrible season, the financial ramifications of this are far worse than the £9m or so to pay off Conte.

They're taking into account his 3 year contract in that too which is ridiculous as we'd have to pay someone to manage us.

It seems to be the case with most Italian clubs to be honest. The Alex Sandro from Juventus, and Dzeko from Roma transfer chases were just as frustrating.

Especially when you consider that all of the players you mentioned are expendable. I would actually keep Pedro personally. I think his style could suit Sarri, and similar to Fabregas with only a year left on his contract any sale value will be pretty low and to replace them would likely cost significantly more, thus eating into our budget. We'd be better off keeping them both for the last year of their contract and keeping the experience within the squad.

Not sure if he's being pushed ahead of Alli, but there are certainly people in the media who feel he should perhaps be given a chance over Alli who isn't in the best of form. I agree with you, Alli is well ahead of him at the moment with regards to his tactical understanding but that comes off the back of having played about 200 first team games more than RLC. I don't think there is anything between them technically. He has been let down tremendously I feel by Chelsea not letting him go out on loan. If he had followed the same path as most of our youngsters he would have well over 100-150 games under his belt now and would likely have a far better tactical understanding and discipline to his game. I do firmly believe however that the ability is there and if used correctly he could become a huge player for the club.