Superblue

I think the only way West Ham may sell Rice is if the offer is good, and they can bring in Kalvin Phillips to replace him if Leeds go down. But I agree, I don't think West Ham will sell Rice this summer and they don't need to with 3 years left on his contract, they can still sell him next summer for a good price.

When talking attacking players, for me, I'm very much in the Dembele camp if we're looking for a 'game changer' in the attacking positions. The injury record is the real worry for him, but I think that is somewhat negated if we bag him on a free transfer (although fully aware wages would be high). The Dembele seen in the second half of this season at Barca is one free from niggling injuries and confident. If he's over some of those muscular injuries that have ravaged his Barca career and he has a manager in Tuchel who absolutely loves him, it could spell a recipe for big success. A lot of our players like to play in front of the defender, Dembele would give us an option we've lacked since Hazard left, someone who is both capable and willing to take responsibility with the ball and take defenders on to make things happen. He would potentially add a real new dimension to the attack and again, since Hazard, he has the potential to be the player who gets people out of their seat in anticipation and excitement. You need that type of player sometimes just to lift the whole atmosphere within a stadium. If he doesn't renew with Barca, he is a complete no brainer in my eyes and one of those players who really justify the risk.

The biggest issue I have with Nkunku is there feels a lot of similarities with Werner with the way in which he gets a lot of goals, i.e. space afforded to him. It seems to be a common theme across the Bundesliga, but he thrives on those pockets of space in behind the defence. He won't get anywhere near the same space over here for a lot of the chances he gets in Germany. Also whilst his goal record has blown up this season, he's never been a big goal scorer before this season. Is this season where it just all came together and he's hit a real purple patch in front of goal or is this him now making that level up to consistently producing such numbers? If he had a decent release clause he'd maybe worth having a go for him but if Leipzig want £60-70m or more, I would be weary dropping that amount of money for him.

Richard Keys was the presenter on Sky Sports for football games for about the first 15 years of the Premier League, alongside Andy Gray. They ended up getting moved on, think they were caught out being sexist, abusive, etc and I'm pretty sure they now or have presented Premier League in one of the arab countries.

I would love us to get Dembele, especially on a free transfer. Tuchel knows him, still speaks very highly of him and arguably got his best spell of his career from him. I know his injury record isn't great but I think in a similar way to Robben, he's worth taking the risk on and having him even if he's only available for 60-70% of games during the season. Regarding Havertz I understand that viewpoint because I think the same at times with him. But he is still only 22 and he has shown already to be a reliable goal scorer at Leverkusen. I think there is a lot more to come from him. We don't necessarily need him scoring 20+ goals a season in the league but if he can consistently hit 12-15 and another couple of players reach around the 10 mark we will be in much better shape. I do think he's capable of that. I also believe now he's been in the league for a couple of seasons he's also much better equipped now to play in midfield if we reverted to a 3 and you needed two offensive minded midfielders in front of a holder. The one thing I've noticed with Havertz certainly in the last 12 months compared to the first season is he works and presses significantly more now than he did when he first came. I think he's someone who just needs to be given time because his potential ceiling is very high.

He isn't ready to come here and be a starter, but with a season of Premier League football under his belt, he will be much better equipped to play a squad role here if we required him to do.

No links, I'm just merely suggesting that both would be seen as potentially 'statement' signings in terms of marketability for the club due to their profile, but ultimately I feel most of these profile of players would be an ill-fit for the club and Tuchel.

I would agree. I would far rather a 'statement' signing be a big centre back or centre midfielder that can anchor the team and build around than a vanity purchase like Neymar or Pogba. I mentioned since that post, if we were going for a statement signing based on marketability as well as effectiveness then we should make a play for Kane in the summer, despite how unlikely it would be to pull off. But besides that, I would just much rather signings that are going to fit alongside what we currently have here and fit what Tuchel is looking to build.

What I would say about Rice is the more I carry doubts about him the more he does continue to prove me wrong. He has improved season upon season, and there's possibly another level or two he can go upwards still. You mentioned Grealish and that does have to be a bit of a worry. That sort of price for a player from one of the clubs outside the big six in the league does carry a lot of risk. In the same way Grealish has to adapt to City compared to Villa, Rice will have to do the same thing. We will dominate the ball a lot more than West Ham do and he'll be playing against teams that are happy to sit back and deep, which means he may have to be more progressive in the way he plays but with less spaces to find. At present his passing statistics at West Ham are excellent and he does a very good job in that midfield but there does have to be consideration whether he can bring the same or better qualities to a Chelsea midfield that will ask or even demand him to do more.

I think they will definitely be looking to make Chelsea 'theirs' with the transfer activity this summer and usher in a new era. Moving players on has to be just as efficient as players in this summer. The biggest one I worry about is Kante. He's a massive fan favourite and I think there would be a lot of outside criticism if we moved him on or didn't sign him to a new deal but ultimately he doesn't justify a new contract now at his age and seeing the decline this season. I heard Matt Law on a podcast the other day and he was spot on, he said if it was him he'd sell Jorginho this summer and he'd either sell Kante or keep him next season but not give him a new deal. After this summer the club has time then to put plans in place to play the market better. More players are running down contracts and we should be looking to position ourselves to be in the market for options if they occur. We've been stung ourselves this season with Christensen and Rudiger and there were options we could have looked at if we weren't sanctioned. Mazroui at Ajax could have been a tempting free transfer for the full back/wing back role to compete with James for example but I think he looks primed for moving to Bayern.

What is a statement signing to him? Is a statement signing a huge transfer fee like Rice or Tchouameni but they aren't necessarily marketable players. Or is a statement signing to him, someone he can really pin a new era to. Haaland would have probably been ideal for this but that is out of the window. A proper holding midfielder is essential. I'd love to see us revert to 4-3-3 next season as the likely midfielders who stay are better suited to playing as two box to box midfielders - Mount, Gallagher, Kovacic, RLC. You could possibly even play Havertz in this role too with a holding midfielder. Our two wing backs are more than comfortable playing as full backs in a 4, and gives us an extra body in midfield. The obvious two are Rice and Tchouameni and neither is going to be cheap. Unless the club has an alternative, cheaper idea. That would be my preference for a 'smart' statement signing as it helps reshape our midfield for the rest of this decade. But if they want a statement signing that also provides marketability then in my opinion there is only one player in that bracket who would also hugely fill a problem area and that is Harry Kane. I personally don't see it due to the rivalry, but in the summer he'll have 2 years left on his contract. It might be now or never for both himself and Spurs in terms of cashing in at top dollar. City are getting Haaland so that ship has sailed and with Ronaldo, I think United will target other key areas this summer. If Lukaku could be moved on, he would be the ultimate pick up in the striker role and really send shockwaves through the league if that is what Boehly is looking to do.

Watched Kounde a couple of times and I think he ultimately depends on what Tuchel is planning with this team. All the players that are either leaving or might leave opens up the opportunity for Tuchel to move away from the back 3 if he wants to. Besides possibly Silva, all the players that benefit from a back 3 to hide their deficiencies are likely to leave (Rudiger, Christensen, Azpi, Alonso, Jorginho). If Tuchel wants to carry on with the back 3 then I do think Kounde is a solid shout for the RCB role. Similar to Rudiger I think his strengths are maximised in this role, and his rashness and decision making can be covered. In a back 4 though he just doesn't strike me as someone reliable, and would definitely be a poor fit. Ultimately though you're right either way with the price. £60-70m in my opinion should get us 2 centre backs if we do our homework. There are so many gaps in our squad that need plugging that wasting that sort of money on Kounde I feel is the wrong move. Really is price dependent, but I wouldn't be against us looking into buying Koulibaly. I know he'll be 31 in the summer but with his age and a year left on his contract, if we could get him for circa £20m (give them Sarr as part of the deal!) I think he still has 2 - 3 years at the top level and not just fills a hole with an exceptional player, but also adds an experienced player into the ranks when it looks like we could lose a lot of them this summer.

To be fair this bloke regularly leaks team news shortly before being announced so he may well in the know here. Alonso also has form with Lampard according to reports. This ultimately is my biggest worry. Defensively we've been awful recently and it's no surprise that 4 of our defenders have either been linked with moves away or pre agreed moves. I can guarantee they'll have no problem's raising their levels for the cup final but ultimately we need to get these points and have top 4 locked up.

Aside from the fact we can finally bury this top 4 'race' with a win, we can also put a mighty step in to sending Leeds down. Maybe some of these players need to be made aware of just how big a game Chelsea vs Leeds is...

One of the main positives regarding Boehly is that a bid or negotiations took place about 3 years ago regarding buying Chelsea so a lot of due diligence would have been carried out then which would still hold up now. It's not a coincidence that the Boehly consortium has been pretty much locked in from a very early point in comparison to other groups who were still putting teams together well into their bids.

It's further reassurance if true but I have a good feeling about Boehly and from the information and knowledge we all have, he has always seemed to be the best option. I think the intention with Chelsea all along for Boehly and Clearlake is that of a long term investment. They could potentially take a few million here and there from the club but it's not going to make a dent in the outlay they have made to buy the club. They're no mugs. A more successful club brings in more performance related revenue, more advertising and sponsorship opportunities, more fans and ultimately higher value. The plan certainly over the next 10 years will be to sort the stadium out stand by stand and build on the base that Roman has created at the club. A time will come where Clearlake will want to see a return on their investment, but the likelihood is this will be done on a long term scale whereby they slowly divest their shareholding within the club, in their hopes and plans when it is valued at multiple times what it is currently. I think every Chelsea fan appreciates what Roman has done. Not to forget that we could have ended up going down a similar route to the one Leeds took, he's given to me something that I never expected when growing up with regards to the trophy haul we've enjoyed during his tenure. But it should also be noted in doing so, we've wasted insane amounts of his money. New and the unknown doesn't have to be worse. New eyes and new ideas may be what the club needs. I think like most, I just want this done and dusted now and to be able to move on as the last couple of months have not been enjoyable as a Chelsea supporter but I am excited to see what the future holds for the club.

Just a note too in the article they say that the additional £500m mentioned last week that Roman was demanding was in fact based around future commitment to spending on the club. So assume a £4bn deal in round terms equates to around £2.5bn purchase and £1.5bn future commitment into the club.

What's Bremer like?

Makes a mockery of the UK media's scaremongering

Musiala too (although different circumstances where they lost Musiala compared to letting Rice leave) I don't think the clamour would be there for Guehi and Tomori if we weren't losing Christensen and Rudiger. If those two had signed on and stayed it probably wouldn't be such a big discussion topic. However, it still doesn't change the fact that we allowed both to leave when we had so many defenders with expiring contracts. Both or either could have been loaned out for another season in the Prem to carry on playing and developing. It was incredibly arrogant in the position we were in to show such little thought of a contingency plan in case of a situation like now losing 2 first team defenders on free transfers, which was always a more than reasonable possibility to happen.

Roman could well do that, he still holds all the cards essentially with regards to who he wants to take over. Having heard the interview today though from Ratcliffe's camp it would lead us to believe that there isn't any conspiracy theory like some are trying to piece together and simply they've followed the process and spotted a potential opportunity to make a bid because the price looks like being significantly lower than they expected it to be. The financial backing is one thing and maybe Ratcliffe is the standout here (although I don't think any of the bidders in the final stage would leave us in dire straits financially with their backings), and he can also offer I guess the closest equivalent to Roman, being sole owner as opposed to a consortium although that has both positives and negatives attached to it. But it looks like a lot of the bid is being done on the fly. They've put their statements out but there's no plans with regards to how they may renovate the stadium, long term plans and strategies to grow the club commercially, etc. This is where they are at a significant disadvantage to the other bidders who have been planning this for weeks (and possibly in Boehly's situation years) and I genuinely don't think Roman would be accepting of that. He'll want to see what plans these bidders have for the club.

As much as it feels like it, the whole situation is actually moving at a rapid speed considering the figures involved. If it was just left to develop and you had a handful of people 'in the know' reporting on developments there would be no problems. Instead we have 90% of journalists either (a) using Roman's sanctions as a means of showing their true feelings about Chelsea, or (b) finding the worst case scenarios and creating a doomsday portrayal of the situation. Given the platform they are on and the audience size, one of the worst has to be Sky Sports. It's bad enough that if we want to watch a Premier League football match on their channel, we have to suffer through what is best described as a Liverpool lovefest. But you then have that Kaveh bloke fuelling all sorts of speculation for clickbait on their platforms. He's not a journalist, he literally spends half of the day on Twitter looking for football stories and transfer gossip (spoiler alert - we've worked out his trusted "source"). I remember years back Sky Sports used to be top tier for transfer news because they didn't lend themselves to speculation. In fact I can remember how gutted I was when they reported that Dani Alves was joining Chelsea from Sevilla only for it then to not materialise. In recent years they've effectively prostituted themselves out to the mass hysteria regarding transfer talk, culminating in them treating transfer deadline day like a religious festival.