Superblue

If a top striker isn't happening then just stick with Werner next season and don't force the issue.. It's not beyond the realms of possibility that we see a sizeable increase in his goalscoring numbers next season.

Becoming harder doesn't necessarily mean it's our last chance though. I might be wrong but if anything, more teams will qualify from that point so maybe it'll become easier to win by it becoming less exclusive.

How is it our last chance to win it? We've just won the Champions League with a core group of our squad still young. I understand there are a couple of holes in our squad which hopefully can be filled but we're hardly "well fucked". In fact our dominance in Europe last season suggests to me that we could be well set up with our current group to challenge again. I genuinely feel next season we'll be one of the teams no one will want to draw. In my opinion having Tuchel at the helm who has already proven is amongst the best around at present, a now established tactical set up and a year's experience under the belt for our new signings last summer and the other young players in our squad, I expect us to be far more competitive even if we didn't add to our squad this summer. If we can add 2 or 3 then fantastic, but it has to be quality over quantity. If the options aren't good enough then make do and look again next summer.

Spend no more than a couple of hours off the forum to see two new pages of comments in here, expecting something interesting only to see some baseless conspiracy theories about Ziyech and Hakimi being talked about as if they're true, and the window being written off already with the usual witch-hunt of Marina because we haven't brought anyone yet. I enjoy this forum but it is bloody hard work at times.

That makes it sound like he's not a priority target for us, and only really an attractive option if it allows us to move players on to Inter that we no longer want.

Granted I don't watch the levels of football (outside of Chelsea) that others do, but the few times I have watched Camavinga play I haven't yet seen what the big deal is.

Yeah that is definitely the risk involved with Tammy. However given the whole Covid situation, etc I can't see someone paying around £40m for him like is being reported as to what we want for him. Realistically someone might come in with £25-30m, but then there is the possibility that he could command around £20-25m next summer so it may be worth the risk of holding him an extra year. I think though if you drop beyond Haaland on the list, and you're looking for an option of a poacher striker who is more in the team to score and less to get involved in the build up play then keeping Tammy seems more sense than a number of the alternative options, none of which are elite. I agree on the Tuchel part though, the last thing we need is that relationship turning sour between manager and board before it's barely started because Tuchel is having to coach players that he doesn't want. Hopefully though the bigger picture can be seen here and if a suitable striker isn't available this summer we do have one currently sat in the stands who could do a job this season, and then leaves us in a position to move on a target next summer.

In that situation then I would keep one of them. If someone is prepared to pay what we want for Tammy then let him go and retain Giroud. If nobody is prepared to pay what we want for Tammy, then keep him and let Giroud leave.

If it's not someone elite like Haaland or Kane, then the sensible option is to either use our budget on other areas that need strengthening or save our budget, and in doing so roll with Werner and Havertz being focal points of our attack next season.

Spurs are in a similar position to what we were 2 years ago with Hazard, the potential of selling the team's talisman. You almost feel they need a full reboot. The squad that they have has grown stale together.

Even then though it's still too high.

I like Isak, I think he has a lot of potential and plenty of scope for development. However the talk of around £70m just makes him far too much of a risk, as he hasn't done enough to justify such a fee and he hasn't yet shown he can be a prolific goal scorer. If we were talking £30 - 40m, I wouldn't mind him as an alternative to Haaland because we'd potentially be able to sell Tammy to help fund him and I don't think he'd then inhibit us buying another striker next summer if we needed/decided. But the price being quoted is just far too high to take that chance, and I think would then make it difficult for us to go back into the market next summer for a Haaland. If we're talking that level of money it needs to be a more proven commodity.

I just hope we don't panic like we have form for if the main targets aren't secured. I don't mind if we have a couple of top targets for example at centre back or centre midfield where there are potentially multiple options available. But the wing back roles are more specialist, hence less quality supply and the striking options go from a couple of top end options, immediately down to risky punts. If Hakimi doesn't join, then I don't want us buying a right wing back for the sake of it (Traore for example). We want to be giving ourselves the best possible opportunity to build the club up so the Champions League win wasn't just a one off but the start of something. It's been mentioned that Chelsea and Tuchel this summer are looking at quality over quantity and I hope they live up to that.

Purely talking about defensive ability. It's not just his pace, but he's always been a lazy defender. He's hardly the most willing to track back once he's ventured forward and in general his defensive awareness and positioning is just not a very good standard. As a backup option at wing back he's serviceable (his pace and work rate are still a hindrance but at least he's covered a little more defensively) and if we're keeping the wing back system next season then there will be a potential role in the squad for him as back up to Chilwell but as a full back he's a complete liability. I agree that there are aspects to Chilwell's game going forward (how anyone who plays professionally is only comfortable with one foot is beyond me. I only ever played county level as a kid, and 6 a side as an adult and I practised with my weaker right foot until I was comfortable on either side with either foot. At professional level any player should be capable of at least passing within 20 yards and shooting/crossing with both feet). However if his attacking stats are similar to Alonso and he's a huge upgrade defensively, he's a definite first choice from what we currently have in the squad.

If anything that has been the argument for why Alonso has remained a useful squad depth option over this time. The biggest problem with Alonso is his pace and defensive positioning, awareness, ability, etc. Chilwell is miles ahead of him defensively.

He's played very well tonight but I think Jorginho has looked excellent these two games for Italy. He's seemed a bit more quicker and purposeful in his passing than usual too.

I don't see that happening again this coming season. City and Liverpool were miles ahead of everyone that year, I'd be surprised to see City match last season's total next year, let alone a team hitting 90+ points.

Unless Tuchel had some other ideas, Chilwell is almost certain to be first choice left wing back next season but obviously he can't be expected to play every game so needs a backup behind him. I suppose the question would be is Hakimi on the left hand side a better wing back option than Alonso or Emerson? If both Emerson and Alonso were to leave, could we "get by" with options such as Hakimi and maybe CHO for left wing back when Chilwell is unavailable or needs resting. I personally wouldn't be against keeping one of Emerson or Alonso next season as backup (prefer to keep Alonso personally), however a lot may depend on outside interest, bargaining chips for other targets, and whether either would accept a backup role next season.

Ok, so he's pretty much certain to miss the City and Spurs games, but looks like being only those 2 for the league. Obviously 2 tough games but I was expecting it to be worse than 2 league games (I guess a couple of rounds of FA Cup too which he may not have even been likely to play). The other consideration I guess will be that our fixture list doesn't take into account the World Club Cup yet I assume and therefore there may be a game or two in that to re-schedule.

What are the dates for the AFCON? I don't understand why Europe doesn't take the opportunity for, say a 3 week international window around the same time, rather than a couple of 1-2 week windows heading into the business end of the season.

That's a tough early season batch of fixtures but if we can get through that relatively unscathed we should find ourselves in a very good position. In a way playing the other top teams early in the season I think could be better. We'll be in a position where players will be returning to pre season late after playing in the Euros/Copa America and therefore our start to the season could end up being a little sluggish, but the other big teams should be in similar positions. I trust the work that Tuchel has already done that even if we need time to hit top gear, we're solid and organised enough to grind some results out early on.

Can Hakimi not cover both the left and right sided wing back roles if we brought him?

Difficult to get Rudiger and Christensen to sign extensions when they weren't regularly playing earlier in the season. I think after the Euro's they'll both sign new long term contracts. Even that article on Rudiger confirms that he has told Chelsea he won't negotiate anything until after the Euros so I'm not sure why it's being made a big deal. Azpi, I'm also not concerned with, he'll sign a year or two extension. I could very much see Azpi staying and retiring at the club unless he wanted to go back and play at Osasuna for a season or two.

It wasn't just the final. He was superb against Real Madrid in the semi finals also, and had a huge impact wrestling control of the midfield when he came on in the league against City. The problem for Jorginho is he's never truly been accepted from the Sarri regime, which means he can't afford a bad game (Arsenal home for example) without the fan base calling to get rid. His skill set suits Tuchel's system and the system also helps cover up some of his weaknesses (namely his athleticism). I'd argue, particularly with his experience, he's one of the best around for the role he plays and I don't think he gets anywhere near enough credit at times. The only way he's leaving is if he tried forcing a move, there is absolutely no way Tuchel is letting him go this summer.

Could be wrong but I believe he may have also been the first black manager to win the FA Cup also. In fact he may have been the first black manager to manage in the top division in England at the time.