Superblue

Do we have any players represented by Mino Raiola??

If the club wants him I'm glad we're not letting him go without a fight, but I'm also glad we're standing up to the agent. £10-12m from a transfer is a joke. We would have essentially sold a potentially very good player in Traore just to pay an agent, screw that. The club have actually played this well in my opinion because reportedly we've offered Everton the same money and Lukaku the same money. Lukaku either shows he wants to play and make it at the club that he supported since a boy and potentially become a legend at the club or he goes where his agent can fleece the most money. If he does decide on Chelsea that to me shows someone strong willed, motivated and knows what he wants - I'd be happy buying a striker of that mentality.

Spurs wage budget is strict. Fair play to them for managing to keep it as such but with all the transfer fees getting out of control and the influx of Premier League money, wages are only going to continue to rise. With paying for their new stadium I can't see their stance changing any time soon and as a result I can see some of their players becoming unsettled in time. All it takes is one or two to break the mould and the whole thing could fall down. I think they'll keep all the players they want to keep at least this summer though.

Oh dear QPR

What killed Ake was being brought back in January. I believe if he had stayed at Bournemouth and got a full season under his belt he would have been a far more polished player coming back here for pre season with a greater chance of pushing for a first team place. The club has been panned for not bringing in youth players but when we last tried it to a degree in Carlo's second season it showed how lacking our squad depth was and how experience is so key at the highest level. I do believe in the last couple of seasons the club has addressed these issues and is part of the way to getting academy players into the first team. The loan system, despite media and opposition fans moaning like crazy about it, is providing our youngsters with the experience they need before they can challenge here. We have made a lot of good decisions with a number of players for where to loan them out. I think the final hurdle which needs addressing is the mentality of how academy players are seen once back here. If Christensen wasn't from our academy and had been contracted to Gladbach, there is a good chance given his performances in last 2 seasons that we would have been after him with a fee probably somewhere in the region of £20-30m. If we paid that the pressure is stronger to integrate that player into the first team. The price tag at the moment seems to give an extra foot up, which we need to eliminate. For example if we buy Rudiger, in theory to start with he is behind the current back 3. It's up to him to perform and impress to dislodge one of those. The same for Christensen, but they should be starting on an even field coming in as new players. At the moment this doesn't seem to happen and must be addressed to start getting these boys coming through and establishing themselves.

I don't think you could trust him to be your primary right back / wing back. You would need someone very reliable to back him up or share the position. That's why he'd be great here for a year or two as we have other options.

Time to see his mentality. If he has the right attitude, he'll back himself for the position. It's a hugely demanding role that won't be able to withstand a full season in England given the intensity of our league and a european campaign the rumours have Conte wanting to make a huge impact in. There will be plenty of games to play and he'll get opportunities if he continues to push himself and perform. I'm pretty sure there were rumours that Barca wanted him when the Alba leaving rumours were hot. Sandro will still need to adjust to the league and having Alonso as the other option is a very good position to be in.

The vast majority of clubs would love Willian and Pedro in their teams. They both have the ability to be game changers and they both proved at times last season that when teams are preoccupied with Hazard, they can produce. They may not be at Hazard's level but no team has a world class player in every single position, but those players are still of a high standard. I would not swap either of them for Mahrez. I agree it would have to be a real top class player to replace them, otherwise it's pointless for the sake of buying.

I can't think of any RWB's that are of a similar standard to Alex Sandro that would be attainable with the exception of possibly Dani Alves which is a short term option. I think Azpi could well play at RWB quite a bit, especially in the big away and european games, he would make us far more solid defensively than Moses.

If our goal is to become competitive in Europe and make a push there then for me Bonucci is hands down the man to go for over VVD. I can understand the age factor, etc but he is arguably the best centre back in the world, certainly when it comes to being accustomed to playing in a 3 man defence. Get another couple of years of him in his prime may be the difference between us winning another Champions League or not. VVD isn't going to give us the added edge of big game and european experience. I just feel for the price it should be a guaranteed world star centre back we'd be buying and I'm not sure if VVD is there yet. We'd be better off sticking with what we have, bring Christensen back and keep one of Ake or Zouma in the squad. Spend that sort of money elsewhere.

The club get panned for some of the buys in recent seasons but we have done very well making the most of selling players. Gone are the days of loaning out Crespo until his contract runs out. I'm sure I saw something a few weeks back that our net transfer spend over the last three seasons is lower than the likes of Sunderland. i can remember on Sky Sports Gary Neville talking about how Chelsea transformed their team in 2 seasons with a net transfer spend of only a few million. It's incredible how we've stayed so competitive in the league with a fairly moderate transfer spend, winning 2 premier leagues in the last 3 seasons and in that timeframe replacing the spine of our team over the last decade in the likes of Cech, Ashley Cole, Terry, Lampard, Drogba. The next step is becoming competitive again in Europe and hopefully this is the summer we loosen the purse strings a little more to do just that.

I was thinking the same earlier. Selling Oscar in January too when we didn't spend in that window. It's a huge amount of money we're raising on player sales, all of the above you mentioned plus Oscar would be pushing about £200m. Based on all the new commercial deals, premier league money, winning the league, etc it wouldn't be ridiculous to assume that we could quite easily go and spend £150m if we wanted to in this window not taking into account player sales. I do think we'll be major players in the market and pick up some players that Conte really wants this summer that will vastly improve our team.

What is positive is that we have offered real significant money for a top potential prospect. It should signal that we are willing to be players in this transfer market and the club is working hard on targets.

To me, this sounds like they are ready to sell but want him to force the move to (1) not pay him off and (2) save face with fans.

Thanks mate, the one thing I would say about Conte, and I'm saying this without an idea of his track record, is that he played football and reached the highest levels. That doesn't necessarily mean he's going to be a top manager but I do think it helps him to understand the time, patience and understanding needed for younger players to develop and how best to motivate and help them, quite simply because he's been there and experienced it himself. He knows the struggles and he knows the hard work and dedication that is required, especially with the greatest respect he was a fairly limited player but had the work ethic and will to force his way to the top and continue improving. This is why I always feel that Mourinho generally struggles with developing younger players because unless they are real top drawer and would command a place in the team already, he hasn't got the time for them to develop because he never had those experiences himself. A lot of people seem to think that if a player hasn't come through by the time he's 20 then he won't ever but time's have changed. Players careers at the top are generally lasting longer and as a result more patience should be shown with some of these players. As you said with Abraham, if he went on loan again and developed further it only benefits us. Lukaku has developed and improved year on year whilst in the Premiership. As long as Abraham was improving and there was a long term plan in place, what would be the harm in him being out on loan for 2 or 3 seasons in the Prem and then coming into our team a polished and established striker. A fine balance is involved with regards to giving time and patience to young players and that's not just the club but us fans too.

The club is using the loan system correctly to a degree because as a big, successful club even young fringe players who won't make it here can still command respectable fees and getting an exposure out on loan only enhances that. In the case of RLC he is too raw and untested at the moment and the club don't have the opportunity to develop and nurture that talent to its fullest because of the pressure of competing for every trophy. He needs to go out on loan for a season or two and gain experience, until then he cannot be compared to Bakayoko who has just won the French league with Monaco and reached the Champions League semi final. Nowadays how many players break through at the top clubs as a teenager without going on loan and gaining experience elsewhere first. Unless they are a truly phenomenal talent or the circumstances force the issue (like United's injury list got Rashford in the team last year) it doesn't happen anywhere, so why expect it at Chelsea? The biggest problem we seem to have that needs development is once these players have been on loan, they have a path into the first team squad. Courtois did it and ousted arguably the greatest goalkeeper in our club's history to do it so it can be done. But others should have over the last few years too, given their performances and experiences gained out on loan - Lukaku, De Bruyne, Bertrand to name a few. I would actually prefer us to buy 4 or 5 top draw signings this season to tweak what we have here and the squad is then 'beefed' up with some of the young lads coming back from loans or who were on the fringes last season - Ake, Chalobah, Christensen, Baker, maybe Abraham. Given the small squad we used last season and the extra games this season, they will get chances if they're around the team and it will then boil down to (1) Conte being prepared and confident to use them, and (2) they have the right attitude to take their opportunities.

My god people need to calm down. Let's see how we shape up once the transfer window closes.

Huge step up playing in the pressure cooker of Chelsea with lack of premier league, champions league or any top level experience. Its not like an outfield player you can blood in. If courtois got injured for a significant period and this guy couldn't hack the pressure we'd be in huge trouble. At least you know what you'd have with caballero as opposed to the complete unknown and that makes me feel more confident if anything happened.

People that are against this signing have to remember we are talking the role of a backup goalkeeper. It is a very specialist role because in normal circumstances they will not play often. I thought Begovic was an outstanding signing at the time, but agree with some on here, he didn't look anywhere near as good for Chelsea as he used to for Stoke. I think a lot of that is to do with the adjustment from playing week in week out to being a back up and coming in periodically. What Caballero does have is experience of being exactly that, a backup for one of the top clubs so (1) he's used to the role of a backup keeper and (2) he's experienced playing the role in one of the top clubs where pressure is much greater. Add to this solid premier league and champions league experience, and a free transfer to boot and I think this is clever business by the club if it happens.

I think it's safe to say we've done pretty good trusting Italian players and managers over the years...

He rejected a new contract, that was the problem.

I like Morata but that is another crazy fee quoted this summer. And people are moaning because we haven't brought anyone yet; I'd much rather us take a bit more care and time over the next month and get the right players for the right prices here. If I were United I would keep faith in Rashford and Martial.

Showed very good form in the first half of the season and is a good age to become a mainstay at a club for many years. However he is coming off the back of a serious injury which has ruled him out for months and, with the greatest respect to Celtic, he has yet to be tested at the highest level with all the pressures that come with it. £60m is ridiculous money and I'm glad we're not paying that for him. Buying anything now in England seems near pointless with all the money all the clubs have, they can quote prices on players that are laughable. It's also why I worry about us going for Lukaku, I can see us getting our fingers burnt with that.

The club can cater for this. There is plenty of fitness routines he can do on the road to recovery before he's capable of getting back on to a training pitch and the club will have him in every day intensely to do this just like other players. The biggest thing is match fitness, but with the sheer number of players in the club nowadays it's easy to arrange behind closed doors matches, reserve games, etc to get him up to speed quickly. Our medical department have proven over the last few seasons they are phenomenal, and I have every confidence they'll get Hazard back up to speed in a prompt and effective manner.

We can't grumble too much we did very well last season with injuries. If there's any positive it's that we've suffered a serious injury to a key player at the best time going into the summer. Hopefully he'll be back in training by the time the season starts, and get him back up to speed shortly afterwards. Someone needs to step up in his absence...