Superblue

Assuming there's no last minute problem with Auba and Zakaria, I'm pleased overall with the window. Fofana and Cucurella are big investments and probably a bit too much paid for both but ultimately the four first team players we'd already bought I think are strong and improve the group. The two today may well be short term but they fill needs in the squad with huge commitments and I just have this feeling that both are coming in with fairly low expectations which usually bodes well for Chelsea. There's still work to do but it was never going to happen fully in one window. The next step will be for the ownership to pick a world class director of football to lead the next step, and in between now and the next window some contract decisions need to be made (the likes of James and Mount being tied down long term for starters). Difficult to put a rating on the window. On the face of it, I'd probably say about 7.5 - 8/10. But we could look back on this window in a couple of years time and think it was a 10/10 if a couple of the younger players develop. The US keeper looks very promising from clips I've seen. Some of the players we've been able to move out permanently (finally) is a big positive too.

He mentioned it like it was offered before Zakaria which suggest a midfielder. My first thought would be Ruben Neves.

I'd have done the same too if I was Aubameyang's entourage. The bloke has just days previous been mugged and beaten up. You just know Sky Sports want that exclusive interview with close up pictures to see what that jaw and the rest of Auba's face looks like after the assault. Don't give them the satisfaction. Knowing the bumbling idiots, the cameraman would probably stick the camera up so close to Auba he'd worsen the injury!

I agree. Just an experienced strikers instinct to be where he should be in the box to get on the end of things could well prove a blessing because we don't even have that as a profile currently in our squad.

Agreed, only in recent times we've seen the likes of Bentancur, Kulusevski and Cancelo come over here and look significantly better than at Juventus. Would not be surprised to see Arthur look a much better player at Liverpool too. It's definitely a risk because his poor form at Juventus has also nearly coincided with his return from his serious injury so is it Juventus, the injury or a mixture of both. Like Saul though, this is short term and low risk. If he's a success then we buy him next summer at what will look a very reasonable price (rumours are suggesting buy option is around 30m euros), if he doesn't work out then he goes back and we look for someone else next summer when we have more time and hopefully a director of football in place pulling those strings. For me this deal is a significantly safer one than sinking 35-40m on Alvarez or Sangare.

Side news, Harvey Vale has signed a 4 year contract and is going to Hull on loan for the season.

Not quite sure how the rules work, but if Barcelona released Depay from his contract then as a free agent does that mean that he could be signed outside of the transfer window? Or because he's already been registered this season with Barca, is there a prevention from something like that happening?

It is a difficult one because although the centre back position was obviously a need with the players that moved on, we did need to try and improve that spine in the team with a midfielder and a striker. In all honesty though, the market hasn't really been there this season for either position. Maybe Bissouma early in the summer should have been considered but at that point everyone was fit and so far Bissouma can't even force his way into Spurs midfield. I think in Sterling, KK, Cucu and Fofana we've bought in 4 players who were clearly high up the list of targets in their respective positions. Without knowing for sure, I would assume the likes of Rice and Bellingham are high up our list of midfield targets and they're not available this summer. How many times have we filled a void in the squad regardless of the market's quality and ended up regretting that decision for the next few seasons? I've mentioned before but City wanted Kane last summer. When it didn't happen they waited for Haaland. When Liverpool wanted Van Dijk they waited until the next window to sign him when they were told no. We have to start thinking along the same lines and show some patience in rebuilding the squad as it won't just happen overnight. Tuchel probably felt that getting a full pre season into Kova and Kante might just be what they needed. He possibly thought that Gallagher would also be more suited to the pivot than he's shown so far. Maybe he thought Carney was better and more ready than perhaps he feels now. Circumstances change and ultimately whilst it's late in the window, I'm glad at least we're trying to band aid an area on the pitch that needs support but without committing ourselves to something that could impact us looking at a top midfield option next summer. 5 years ago we bought Drinkwater and Zappacosta on transfer deadline day. £60m just chucked in the bin. Whilst Zakaria, Auba and Depay don't fill me with joy, they're low risk for the club at this moment and at a time when we've done pretty well this summer at moving a number of players on who needed to be moved on. We don't need to add back to that pile with some more panic buys with a longer term impact.

Wouldn't be against Zakaria, the Juventus move hasn't worked out but he was very good in Germany. Sometimes teams, leagues, etc just don't suit players. A loan will hopefully fill a gap and need in the squad, but without adding someone in a panic capacity where we're potentially stuck with them for the next 2, 3, 4 seasons. Just imagine if we'd bought Saul instead of loaning him! If he does well here then we have the chance to sign him permanently next season, probably for an extremely competitive price. I'm not against this move at this stage of the window. It's pretty clear we're not 'that' sold on the likes of Alvarez and Sangare otherwise we'd have moved for them earlier in the window so if that's the case why drop £35-40m on either of them. There's also been talk today of us offering Depay a one year contract if Barca are willing to sanction him a free transfer. Similarly I'm not fully sold on Depay, I don't think he's the answer long term but as a short term option given how poor our attack looks at present, I wouldn't be against it. If he did well then offer him an extension, and if he struggled then we wave him away next summer. People are losing their mind over us selling Gilmour but his profile isn't going to help us stop getting overrun in midfield when Kante and Kova are out. I genuinely think a team like Brighton might well be his level, I don't believe Chelsea is.

Not far really, Arsenal have spent nearly £300m themselves across last summer to this summer window. And people are quick to forget how desperate Arsenal fans were for him to go this time last year, and some of the turgid, defensive football he was serving up for quite a long period of time. Credit to them currently, they are looking a much stronger outfit at present but the season has barely started. Let's see what their reaction is when they lose a game because past experience has suggested they don't deal well with knock backs. I'm not going to sit here and act like I'm not disappointed with how our season has started and I'm furious with the Southampton game but I definitely don't feel like we should be hitting a panic button yet. Half our signings are coming in when the season has already started. I think it just needs the window to close now for us and Tuchel and the squad can just concentrate on playing football.

This article doesn't make any sense. If we're looking to loan him back to them anyway, then this deal can continue to be negotiated and sealed outside of the transfer window. Think when we signed Ziyech after the January window.

Reports are suggesting it's a minor fracture which should be about 3 weeks. It's very far from ideal as we need someone to be able to come in now and freshen up the attack but there is also an international break in a couple of weeks too so there shouldn't be too many games he'd likely miss.

Gerrard hinted last night that Douglas Luiz might go if a bid came in as he's not agreeing on a new contract that currently expires next summer. Possibly one to look out for today as a midfield option seeing as the bulk of our recruitment this summer has centred around players with Premier League experience.

It sounds like PSV would prefer to sell Gakpo and they have serious interest from Leeds and Southampton so are likely to reject any bids for Sangare. Ajax likewise cannot replace Alvarez now and have no need to sell with what they've raised this summer. I can't see either of these happening, wonder if the club has an alternative they can move for tomorrow?

Hopefully we'll get one last pleasant surprise tomorrow to boost the squad but beyond that I assume Tuchel and the squad will be looking forward to the window closing. It'll put bed to rumours of players moving in or out of the club and hopefully leave a far more settled group than seems in place right now. And it's been well documented that Tuchel has had a lot of meetings and time expended on dealing with the recruitment and transfer strategy this summer as he's been leaned on by the ownership. That's all fine and well, but its pretty obvious that this would have continued beyond the pre season and into the regular season in recent weeks and may well have intensified further over the last couple of weeks. It's definitely not an excuse that should be being used but it has to be a distraction currently and from what is known of Tuchel and his personality I can't help but feel it's probably something he's not particularly enthused about. With some luck it'll be a one and done situation and the ownership can start putting things in place from next month for a recruitment strategy moving forward.

Not sold on Sangare but I think he's far more likely than Alvarez. Ajax don't need to sell anymore players after what United have given them this summer, whereas the talk is PSV are likely to cash in on one of Sangare or Gakpo now they're out of the Champions League. I believe the Dutch transfer window closes tonight though so either team would not be able to replace before the deadline either.

I like him but is he realistically obtainable now and for what price?

I don't think he's as lacking as Jorginho athletically, but what he does make up for in that regard is size and stature, he'd bring a presence to the midfield. Think the likes of Matic and Mikel in that regard. He'd certainly stop us being bullied in midfield which we seem to do so with more and more alarming regularity. Like I said before though, my biggest worry would be on the ball for him. Whatever we all say and think about Jorginho and his role in the team, he has no problem receiving the ball in tight spaces to allow the team to play out from the back and contend against a press. Alvarez won't offer that and would require someone alongside him to offer that (Kovacic for example) or rely heavier on the centre backs to play out from the back which in fairness to Silva, Koulibaly and also now with Fofana I think they are capable of doing.

Bit of a weird one but because of my skin colour, I grew up as a bit of a running joke that I was Mexican and as a result I've actually followed Mexico a bit as a football team and kind of support them as my 'adopted' nation. If we're talking primarily as a holding midfielder he's good and solid. He's the sort of player that can knit and hold things together. At 6ft 2 as well he'd offer a lot more physicality to the midfield. But he's not great on the ball - he's not terrible, and would at least look to keep things simple but how that transfers across to English football would be my worry coming to play in England with the pace and intensity. I'm not saying he's as bad, but we've already seen in the past someone like Bakayoko look passable outside of England but completely struggle over here. For me, he'd need to be able to show he's quicker on the ball, particularly if he played in a pivot. If you played a 4-3-3 with a genuine holder then he'd actually be a pretty good choice in that role. But as a pivot in a 3-5-2 or 4-2-2-2 I'm not quite sure.

He can play centre back, but his main position is defensive midfield. Same bloke tweeted this just yesterday:

No doubt they've made some good signings amongst too, but some of them are going back 10 years. At the time £38m was still big money for a centre back when they bought Thiago Silva, and the Marquinhos buy was also big money at the time for a largely unproven young player. Both worked out multiple times over, similar to Verratti and Zlatan amongst others. But going back over the last 10 years, Chelsea could similarly pin up some incredible signings - Hazard, Courtois, Azpilicueta, Kante, Diego Costa, Fabregas, etc It's that lure for PSG to go for the big name that can be marketed. Can they move away from that model and look for something ultimately more sustainable. That will remain to be seen.

Let's not change the narrative with PSG. For years they've spent ridiculous sums of money chasing a dream to win the Champions League so to say we're criminally mismanaged compared to PSG I think isn't right. However, this shift this summer from them in my opinion is incredibly clever. You're spot on with this, they've made some very sensible buys without spending stupid money. They have hired an experienced director of football with a very strong track record, and similarly a highly rated manager but without the big name. It's the start of a cultural shift which won't happen overnight but ironically I think could well take them closer to winning the Champions League than they've ever got to before. For Campos in particular too, it must be a refreshing change that he's not buying talent in the knowledge of selling them on for profit in a couple of years, but instead hoping he's now at a club capable of retaining these players if they realise their potential. The key for them will be when there are bumps in the road, will they revert back to type or back the process. In previous years, we've shown time and again we'd revert back to type, to what we know and are comfortable with. It's shown success but it's also damaged us being able to sustain success. We do definitely need to sort out the structure at our club. A director of football is going to be key to properly rebuilding the club.

Agreed, it goes beyond being 2-1 down at half time and remaining 2-1 down at full time. It's the pitiful effort put in to change that score line. It doesn't even need to be some gung ho, guns blazing cavalier football from the 46th minute either, simply dominating the ball, pinning them deep inside of their half and building the pressure for the first 20 minutes would create a nervous and tense atmosphere inside the stadium and would build a base from which to create chances and opportunities but there was literally nothing. It was beyond lacklustre last night. The Leeds result was poor but I'd argue last night was significantly worse because whilst Southampton out battled us, they didn't need to do much to do so. At least Leeds played with an extremely high intensity against us. It felt like Southampton barely got out of second or third gear to beat us.

The most frustrating aspect to this is that there are examples and instances where the team fights and competes as a unit and leaves everything on the pitch. Despite the disappointing aspect of conceding at the end of the game, the Spurs performance was very strong, coming off the back of beating them 4 times last season. The Leicester performance was a real "dig in" situation to get out of a hole. We competed toe to toe with Liverpool across four games last season. Why are those instances different though from a Tuesday night in Southampton. Is our squad really that arrogant or ignorant to believe that they don't need to give 100% in this game? Is Tuchel really that arrogant and ignorant to believe it? It's cliché but 9/10 times you match the aggression and desire of your opponents, then quality will usually show through. We've been out battled by Leeds and Southampton, there's no excuses for that, it's quite simply pathetic. That mentality to be able to go again and again no matter the opposition being put in front of you sets the very top from the rest. Our inability to do that is what has cost us challenging for the title for years.