Superblue

I would love Barkley for the right price but I have a gut feeling that Jose doesn't fancy Lukaku or isn't happy with him forcing through a loan move this season, and can see a deal set up that involves Lukaku moving to Everton. Although I would much prefer cash + Moses (Wigan Connection)!

In the past this would have been unforgiving, but everybody needs to be realistic about this. It is obvious that Jose doesn't rate Mata or consider him an important member of the squad, and Mata's style almost certainly means this won't change. Now we could keep him until the summer but his value is likely to diminish further with such little game time (previous reports linked Mata with leaving for closer to £25m). In previous years I would have rather sold him abroad for £15m less as opposed to selling him to United. However whether people want to bitch about it or not, FFP means we cannot think in that way any more. Forget Mata's talent for a minute and £40m is an insane amount of money for a player who can't get in the team at the moment. And let us not forget this is the best challenge we've mounted for the title in the last 4 seasons. I love Mata, and appreciate what he has contributed to the club but others have stepped up this season and I would rather have players in the squad who Jose trusts and is willing to use and work with.

I wasn't that bothered about it and like Tomo said just got on with supporting the team last season. I think the three biggest differences for many however are: 1. Liverpool - We hate them so much, particularly when he was still held in high esteem by the bin dippers. 2. His comments were much more personal in their nature, criticising us fans, whereas Eto'o's comment is much more general. 3. Benitez replaced Di Matteo, a club legend who a few months prior had won us the Champions League.

Retaining Mata and Luiz, arguably our two most influential players last season, amidst all the media bollocks stirring was a great last day of the transfer window. Yes we still have a couple of positions that may need strengthening over time, but I don't think any Premier League club doesn't have a few holes in their squad. We definitely have a squad capable of challenging for the title this season.

Disappointing not to win but the Super Cup won't make or break our season. The result in some regards is almost irrelevant due to the performance we put in, especially with 10 men, against arguably the best team in Europe. Jose, being the master motivator he is, will get just as much desire and positive reaction from the squad out of losing so narrowly tonight, as he would have if we had won. After the international break, with Eto'o and Willian to come in and hopefully a fully fit Mata and Luiz and we'll be looking forward to some good times coming up, I'm sure of it.

David Luiz for midfield perhaps? I would like to see a new midfielder but I trust Jose.

Independent is a pretty respectable newspaper over here as far as newspapers go...

I think if De Rossi is brought then Jose will sanction selling Mikel to Galatasary. If we are to play a similar shape to last season with 2 central midfield players then we would be left with 5 genuine central midfielders (Lampard, De Rossi, Ramires, Essien and Van Ginkel), with David Luiz also capable of playing there. This also not to mention the glut of attacking midfield talent that we have which may influence Jose to change shape at times through the season. Therefore I think we would have enough in that situation.

The most important thing is to have a capable backup that management, players and fans alike can feel comfortable with stepping in when required. Cech has had a fair share of injuries over the last few years and with the rate of games we play, all it takes is for him to be out for 2-3 weeks with a minor injury and he misses 4-6 games. A couple of times over a season and that can amount to a substantial amount of games which could decide cup wins and league titles. I can see the league being much tighter this season and having an inadequate backup in goal if Cech is injured for a couple of games could be the difference in winning the league this year or not. Turnbull is the type of inadequate backup that cost us games in the past, simply by not being good enough. Ruddy would be a very good backup IMO, and if he costs a few million then so be it. All it takes is Cech to be injured for a couple of months or more, and the investment will more then cover itself if it keeps us well protected in the hunt for trophies.

We have made some seriously good signings over the last couple of years, particularly younger players. We also have a very good crop of older, experienced players who are still capable of playing a big role for the club. One of the things in my opinion we lack is a couple more players in or around their peak (mid-late 20's). De Rossi is arguably on the wrong side of his peak years but his performances for Italy still suggest he has a lot to give. The sort of fee being rumoured is in my opinion a steal and not an ultra-expensive risk. I would love him here, and him and van Ginkel would provide a very welcome boost to our central midfield options.

He's 29. 30 this month.

He was exceptional last night, and for the most part has been very good defensively this tournament. I believe this simply follows on from what was an excellent second half of last season and a new found maturity in his defensive work. I would be very surprised if Mourinho let him go. Jose has always loved a ball playing defender who can bring the ball from defence, and in that regards he is the closest thing we have now in our squad to Riccy Carvalho. As a side note, I love his passion and enthusiasm when he plays!

What are people's thoughts on Soldado? He's been quoted as saying he would be open to moving to the Premier League. He wouldn't be my first choice, but taking Cavani and Lewandowski out of the equation I don't see many better options that may be available for a fairly reasonable price on the market.

I don't understand people thinking AVB is fantastic for a 'long term project'? AVB has yet to spend more than one season at any club, and already there is talk of him jumping ship this summer to PSG. Mourinho over the years has generally shown a preference to more established players, but it is not without exceptions. Cech and Robben were both very young and raw and Mourinho made them two of our most intergral players in his first reign, and similarly Varane at Real Madrid. If they are good enough, Mourinho will play them and that is a big difference with Chelsea's group of players now - a number of our younger players such as Hazard and Oscar are amongst our best players at the club and Mourinho IMO will happily play and trust them and get the best out of them. At Chelsea, Inter and Real he had the instant pressure of results and got them; this time round with all the talk of the importance of stability, you can't help but assume Mourinho will be given the time and patience to develop a number of these young players. I think in regards to a long term project both have a lot to prove that they can excel, but I would still prefer Mourinho and his proven track record over AVB for Chelsea.

It's clear AVB has a superb eye for talent, but his abilities as a coach are still very much in the unproven category for me. Whatever the arguments and excuses, he made a huge mess of this club and I can only imagine where Spurs would have finished this season if Bale hadn't have dragged them up the table. There is some potential there, but much bigger than Mourinho? I know which I'd rather have, and I'm just glad the one I'd rather have is currently our manager.

I have not seen a lot of Schurlle, so I will reserve judgement on the transfer until he starts playing for us, but I'm very open over the transfer for a number of reasons. At 22, he already has 24 Germany caps in one of the most talented generation of midfield pools they've had. He has also been considered one of the, if not the, most important attacking player in a Leverkusen side that have finished third in Germany, only behind the two Champions League finalists. The recent signings of young players for our squad have been overall very impressive. Whether this is Emenalo or whoever making these decisions and as a result I believe they have earned from me the trust that players they are signing will be successful at Chelsea. And finally I fully agree with those that are placing an emphasis on the squad depth. We cannot expect Hazard, Mata and Oscar to play the amount of games they did last year if we want they fit, fresh and firing throughout the entire season. Our '3' behind the striker now includes the options of Hazard, Mata, Oscar, De Bruyne, Schurlle, Moses and Marin - all are capable of playing in different positions in that '3' and all offer different options and variety to our play. Moses or Marin may possibly leave (I would prefer Marin to leave) but even then we have an awful lot of depth and talent still, and add to that Mata will be our 'elder statesman' from that group at the grand old age of 25 (which he only turned less than two months ago), and the future looks very bright indeed.

I'm not really sure which side of the fence to sit on with regards to Rooney. I don't agree with those that don't rate him because over the last decade he has consistently proven himself to be one of the best and most feared strikers playing in the Premier League. I know personally that I've never enjoyed playing United with Rooney in their starting line up. However it cannot be ignored that his form wasn't great this season. There are plenty of arguments and excuses that can be made for this season, but I agree with Tomo that signing a player who is currently in a poor moment in their career represents a major risk. We first hand know how severe those risks are from Torres, and my biggest worry would be a similar scenario to that...Rooney coming in for big money and wages, massive expectation, and never fulfilling it or getting back to the striker he was a couple of years ago. However there is no doubt that a deal for Rooney, if possible, would be tempting, particularly as if he can get himself back to what he was a couple of years ago, then we have a £30m+ player in what should be the prime years of his career. Not to mention the price differential being quoted in the media between him and Cavani. Yes it would be lovely to sign Cavani, a player who clearly is in the best form of his career, but the price is massive. With some of the media stories, we could theoretically sign Rooney, Sneijder and De Rossi for the same or perhaps even less money than Cavani and our summer business would be all but done. I will be intrigued to see how Mourinho views it over the course of the summer.

I didn't necessarily mean Torres moving to Napoli as part of the deal mate (although that would certainly be preferable), I simply meant if Cavani is coming we should be looking to offload Torres to someone.

It is my same argument for not keeping Terry. His wages are amongst the very highest within our squad and this should indicate that he is one of, if not our best player, yet wouldn't be considered first choice. It's not just UEFA's FFP or the new Premier League financial rules regarding wage increases, but it sends the wrong message to other members of our squad on a fraction of Torres' wages who are first choice starters and important contributors to our success. I would much rather Cavani, Ba and Lukaku as our striking options.

I would love Cavani here but I would love Cavani here and Torres moved on even more! Torres with the wages he's on, could not possibly stay, if we buy Cavani.

I would much rather bring in 2 or 3 'top' players than 4/5/6 good players. We have a couple of good players out on loan that can come back in and add to the squad depth. If we brought in, for example, De Rossi, Hulk and Cavani/Rooney, + bring back in Lukaku and De Bruyne things would look very promising.

With the exception of Carragher, all the rest don't play in the Premier League which is widely recognised as the fastest and most intense major league in Europe to play in. As for Carragher, the bin dippers finished mid table. He wouldn't be good enough to be first choice for a title chasing team and that is exactly my point, because neither is Terry. If Terry was on similar wages to the rest of our squad, I would say keep him as a squad player for next season, but he is one of our highest paid players by some margin and no longer justifies this. With not just FFP coming into play but the Premier League's own new rules regarding wage increases, etc, it may well be beneficial for us to seriously consider letting him move on if there are offers being made for him.

I'm favouring selling him if the opportunity arises. Take away that he is captain, and it's clear that he should no longer be first choice anymore. In fact I believe we are now a weaker team with Terry in the team. He's never been blessed with pace, but he can barely move around the pitch now and I seriously worry about him playing against top strikers with a bit of pace. Maybe it's that he hasn't been playing very often, but I don't see his leadership as crucial compared with 2-3 years ago. We have a growing Spanish/Brazilian contingent at the club which have taken a lot of responsibility on with their performances on the pitch. His wages suggest a guaranteed first choice and similarly to Torres, he clearly shouldn't be. If we can offload and bring a young centre back in as replacement we should. This doesn't take anything away from Terry's immense contributions for the club over the years. He will always be a legend at the club, but sentiment shouldn't play a part. That is why Fergie was so good over the years, he knew when to let players go and find replacements and we must do the same to continue progressing.

Mark Schwarzer to leave Fulham this summer. Perfect signing for nothing, experienced and very competent. Would allow us to loan out Courtois again. He has said he's settled in the area and his kids are at school. He may be reluctant to join as backup but the lure of possible silverware may swing it. Also factor in the amount of games we play and he'd still likely get a few games. More than at Fulham now they have Stekelenberg.

I would trust Mourinho to do what is right by the club. After all, this is the man who dropped what was a massive fan favourite and arguably best goalkeeper in the Premiership prior to his first stint in Cudicini for a young, inexperienced goalkeeper in Cech. This is also the man that at Inter sold their one real world class attacking player in Ibrahimovic and rebuilt the side into a far better and more effective unit that won the treble. He knows what he's doing! I don't believe the news regarding Mata, but I do agree that in the future something may have to give between him and Oscar as both need to play centrally to get the best out of them, unless Oscar moves to a deeper position. What Oscar does give is a much stronger defensive work rate to his game, which is obviously Mata's weakest point. This may sway Mourinho's mind in the long term. However I certainly don't expect Mata to be sold this summer, Mourinho will want at least a season with him to see what he can get out of him.