Superblue

I think signing Silva would be a sensible move. Firstly we seem to be focusing purely on first choice targets and no longer settling for something else. So if an area such as centre back therefore needs to be addressed in the next summer then fine. I'd rather we be bringing in first choice targets that also the manager is in total agreement over, then spreading budgets out thinner to try and get more players that may not make as big an improvement on what we already have. As a result, if Silva is an option on a free transfer with realistic wage demands then it all seems to make sense. We don't know how he will fare in the Premier League and I highly doubt he'd be capable of playing game in game out anyway, particularly in a condensed season like next one. But the experience and mentality he could bring to the team could prove to be invaluable. It shouldn't be forgotten that we've lost Pedro and Willian this summer, and there are now very few players left in our squad who have regular experience of winning titles and trophies. You still need the balance within the squad and we have to be careful that we don't end up 'too young' in the makeup of our squad. There are two big examples in our last two title winning seasons of big players and personalities having an influence behind the scenes. Drogba in 2015 and Terry in 2017. Neither played big roles in the team but would have been huge in the dressing room and in training to ensure standards were always maintained and calm, experienced heads were around in difficult moments. A number of our squad in their early 20's will have grown up through their teens seeing Thiago Silva as one of, if not the very best centre back, at the time. I think having a player of that ilk around the younger players, and who although in the twilight of his career has still shown he's more than capable of playing at the highest level, would be a phenomenal boost. You don't always need a leader like John Terry, leading by example wearing his heart on his sleeve. Silva is much more in the mould of Desailly where his timing, anticipation and positional awareness has always been impeccable and he'll be looking to constantly educate the other defensive players around him, both in game and in training. Perhaps the biggest question if Silva were to join is which centre back would leave. The likelihood would be Tomori out on loan but I feel he would be the best to benefit from Silva's presence in the squad.

Regarding point two, this comes down to Lampard being prepared to utilise academy players. What was a thin looking squad has been strengthened through the season by the development of 4 or 5 players who weren't on the radar 12-18 months ago. Other managers in the past who haven't been prepared to do such have had to also push for squad players alongside first team players. In recent years it has affected the quality of the players being brought in but hopefully now as you mentioned it allows us to focus on quality over quantity.

Yeah I'm aware he was on trial here before our ban but I don't understand how Barca have released him on a free after just one year if he was so highly rated. Just doesn't make any sense to me.

Whats the reason behind him being released by Barca. I hear from lots of people on here and other sources that hes a great prospect which makes me wonder how he's slipped from barca's clutches?

I agree. We may have handed out some stupid contracts for some players such as Drinkwater and Kepa but one thing we have managed to do in recent times is not get caught up too much in the explosion of wages (especially those that the likes of PSG, Barca, Real and United pay out). My understanding in recent times has been that Kante is on roughly £300k per week and everyone else is under £200k per week and I would argue that Kante in his time here has deserved to be highest paid, particularly after Hazard left. I cannot see someone coming in on such a mammoth wage, that besides Kante will pretty much double anyone else's salary at the club.

Depends whether we bring new players into these positions, but if I was Ampadu I would strongly consider staying and fighting for my place. I think his versatility to play two positions that are problems for us currently is quite intriguing and he should back himself to get game time. None of the centre backs currently at the club are guaranteed their place in the team and in some cases are on thin ice. But I think the holding midfield position could be what he eyes up in all honesty. He's still raw there but he is a much more solid defensive option than the likes of Jorginho which seems to be what Lampard wants. If the stars aligned he could find himself the primary backup option to Kante and Kante already has doubts now over his long term fitness.

I'm pretty sure the Werner deal was similar to this though. Got 'leaked' out that Chelsea were in the driving seat ready to complete the deal but everything went quiet for a week or so before it heated back up again and the deal was announced. And that was a simple release clause deal. This one is far more complicated and as a result the negotiations are likely to be more long winded because we'll want to structure the deal and/or clauses as favourably as possible for us. There hasn't been anything from a reliable journo to suggest that this has broken down and the suggestions that Havertz has decided he wants to come to us are only a positive. I just think some patience is needed with this one.

I understand where you're coming from. I'm a big fan of New Orleans Saints and as a result I don't particularly like Atlanta Falcons. But as a non-American fan, I wouldn't hold the level of hate that most would towards them. I think it is incredibly tribal-like in England though. There may be a grudging respect sometimes for players or a team but for me it will never waiver from a feeling of hate for teams such as Spurs, Arsenal, United, Liverpool, Leeds. I don't even bother supporting or following the national team. I've never been able to because there are too many players that I've spent hating playing for rival clubs, that it is impossible to just turn that switch on and off, so I simply stopped trying to since I was a teenager.

For me Spurs are the most hated team and it's not really close. But Liverpool are very much up there. I've got no respect for them or their entitled fan base. The media love in, even over the years they've been awful, is embarrassing and that also extends to Klopp who seems to be the media's blue eyed boy, allowing him to act up, criticise, etc because he's 'passionate' and 'charming'. I would take City every day of the year to win something over Liverpool regardless of money spent, etc. Man City just don't mean anything to me. There's no real rivalry there besides competing for trophies in recent years.

Last year's champions league final was pretty much as bad as that.

James isn't the quickest but to be honest neither of the Liverpool full backs have blistering pace but they prepared to attack the space afforded them by players further up the field. Last season the only two real options we've played on the right have been CHO and Willian, who both will predominantly look to attack the same space as the full back. It makes things much easier to defend. Having a player like Ziyech looking to cut inside should create openings much easier because he has the option to cut inside and drive to look at shooting, cut back and cross from a deeper position or play the full back in on the overlap for them to cross from a different position from the byline. The variety will make us far less predictable and much more difficult to defend against. From the looks of things, buying Chilwell on the left hand side and likely having a right footer on the left such as Pulisic, CHO or even Werner will offer something similar from the left too.

If Lampard plays 4-3-3 which has been suggested is his preferred formation moving forward then whoever plays as the deepest midfielder, whether its kante, kovacic, jorginho, etc is who Rice gets in front of. He's far more suited for that role than anyone currently in our squad.

Regardless of the price, I think we can almost all agree however that Chilwell is a significant upgrade on our left back options. For me, he's the second best left back in the league after Robertson. He will make a difference because he should improve our starting XI and his pace will be extremely useful. Too many times last season we had no penetration on the left hand side. I think Lampard wants both wide areas to become dual threats and if Reece James can realise his potential then we could have two young full backs that are capable of getting up and down the flank and providing the width for the team. In doing so, it creates more attacking options when our wide players preferences are to cut inside. If for example, we have Pulisic on the left and Ziyech on the right we will have genuine dual threats on both flanks next season, and/or more opportunities to get bodies in the box like Liverpool and City do because their full backs are the ones providing the width, not the wingers.

I agree, from what I've seen of him I don't get the hype.

Bayern spent similar money last summer on Lucas Hernandez. Bayern are a well run club but it's difficult to compare them to any of the English teams or Real/Barca because they've monopolised Germany for years. They hoover up most of the best talent in Germany, thus strengthening themselves whilst weakening opponents and it's not a coincidence that they can consistently strike deals for players with only a year left on their contracts or even on free transfers (Lewandowski, Goretzka, etc). They would do the same to Leverkusen next summer with Havertz if they had their way. Regarding Chilwell he's an England international (and first choice in his position) and been playing in the Premier League for the last 3-4 years. I don't understand the 'little experience'. The fee is large but I would say that Chilwell offers less risk than other signings. Telles and Tagliafico are both at an age where they can't afford much time to settle and we could be back in the market in 2-3 years time. Real Madrid want a buy back on Reguillon which again could cause problems down the line. I think in Chilwell you have someone that should be able to slot pretty seamlessly into the side, will know a number of our squad from international duty and has the experience of playing in the league and at his age we may not need to buy again in that position for the next 7-8 years. How many times in recent years have we lost out on first choice targets and settled for second/third/fourth choice alternatives. It is what has left our squad needing to be rebuilt. The reported fee doing the rounds is £50m + bonuses which I think sounds far more reasonable than the initial £80m being floated around.

I'd argue he would walk into our current midfield. A player of his ilk is exactly what we're lacking in midfield at present to make the team more solid.

If this is correct, I'd imagine the club will be pretty happy with this. Considering all the rumours were Leicester demanding £80m (and have held firm in the past on their valuations for the likes of Drinkwater, Mahrez and Maguire) to knock that down to around £50m initial is pretty good going. The additional clauses have never really bothered me to be honest because most of them will usually relate to either or a combination of the team and player doing well.

I haven't seen any monetary figures for Chilwell but I did read somewhere it would be a world record for a left back. Out of curiosity what is the current world record?

I think he was part of the squad but didn't really play at that point. Maguire wasn't at Leicester then either.

I don't think that Chilwell is average. In terms of realistic signings within the Premier League, for me he's the best left back option and I think if the price wasn't an issue I would choose him over the likes of Reguillon and Tagliafico. I think people are blowing their stack because of the price, but realistically if we got 6 to 7 years out of him at his peak it wouldn't end up an issue. I do not believe if he was brought, we'll be in a position in a couple of years time where he is a huge weak link in our side and it's a necessity to try to replace him like the likes of Torres, Morata and Kepa have been.

The price becomes a big factor if the player flops. We've had plenty of big money transfers in recent years that have done so, and it's left us with a noose around our neck for years to follow and the best example right now in the current squad would be Kepa. Although I don't envisage Chilwell being that poor that he would fall into that bracket. I think he would if anything fall into the bracket of someone like Maguire who isn't worth the money but has still improved what United had which is why I'm not completely against him. I think he is a significant upgrade on what we have if we want someone who can get up and down the flank and provide genuine width for the team (and particularly if the likes of Pulisic or CHO play left wing they will be looking to cut inside on their right foots so it's even more important to have a threatening full back). Defensively I don't think he's the best which is a worry for the price being touted but he's young enough to improve that part of his game and he's at least much quicker than Alonso to not get caught out consistently simply by pace. Having said that, if the plan is to get our first choice targets even if that takes a couple of summers instead of one, and Chilwell is more attainable than Rice at this point in time, then so be it.

Obviously not British, but the one that should have bucked the trend I would say was actually Ruud Gullit. I could be wrong, but I think he might well have been the first black manager to manage at the highest level in England (somewhat ironic given the negative press we've experienced over the years with regards to racism). He was excellent in his time here and I would argue was a much greater influence than Hoddle was at setting the building blocks at the club (although no Hoddle, no Gullit). It was always a surprise when he was sacked, and whilst we continued to be successful under Vialli it would be interesting to know how we would have evolved under Gullit. (If it would have been buying a number of the crap players he brought to Newcastle then we dodged a bullet but I have read reports in the past that we were putting a move in place for Stam and were also looking at a young Van Nistelrooy) Unfortunately he tanked at Newcastle, fell out with Shearer who was an icon there, and never recovered from that. That is maybe where some racism could be possibly argued. In Gullit's case, was his good work at Chelsea not enough for someone else to take a chance on him despite his struggles at Newcastle? David Moyes survived his United nightmare and managed to find future premier league posts on the back of the work he did at Everton and there are other similar examples.

I think it comes down more to age on both accounts. When I've watched Upamecano a few times he's gone from sublime to ridiculous because he's still young and rash. I think he's at the best club for him currently and I believe will make that big move when the time is right for him and he's more experienced (the very same could be said about Werner who is a much better player now than 12 months ago and benefited from staying at Leipzig another season). Koulibaly is at a difficult age where he's probably in and around his prime for a centre back but it's a big risk to spend so much money on a player that age moving to a new league. He must hit the ground running with not much adaptation time because otherwise he'll be not far off 30 before he's acclimatised to the league.

That's the figure that has been doing the rounds the last couple of days.

On a side note too, I think if we sign Havertz that will be it for our attack going into next season as the likes of Werner, Havertz, Mount are all versatile and can all play wide if needed. It does mean that it presents a huge opportunity for Hudson Odoi. Pulisic will need to be rotated at times because he is susceptible to injury and the likes of Ziyech and Werner may need time to adapt to the league. CHO needs to grow up and realise his potential. There should be a chance next season for him to become an important player and it's up to him to take that.