BlueLion.

^ knew you couldn't be talking about me when you said "under-rated", everyone knows I'm awesome.

^ I think Quaresma's the best when it comes to the rabona, personally.

MOURINHO SET FOR CITY TALKS BBC Sport understands José Mourinho will begin preliminary talks with Manchester City on Monday morning after a dramatic U-turn. The self-stylized "Special One", 50, left Real Madrid this week and had previously been thought to be planning a return to Chelsea after a six-year absence. But BBC Sport has learnt that Mourinho, upon returning to the UK on Sunday afternoon, is set for preliminary negotiations with Chelsea's Premier League rivals Manchester City. City had supposedly been locked in discussions with the departing Malaga first-team coach, Manuel Pellegrini, but it would appear that they have stolen a march on the Blues, and will begin negotiations imminently. More to follow. Click for the article.

MOURINHO IS GAY Ban meh

I disagree. So does Raphael. Look:

Jesus, what a bunch of n00bs this Mod team is. The 2nd of June and no MOTM thread? Fucking jack-asses. Nominations here. Anyone who nominates me won't be banned/will get +50 rep.

Seems you're right mate, was lagging slightly earlier. Performing as good as ever now.

That's a good shout, been thinking along the same lines. If it is confirmed, I'll quickly switch performance mode on, saves the site from exploding. PS:.

^ you have no friends?

Why has the reported price literally doubled?!

I see your point: it is a lot of money. BUT as you say, they are different players who function in different positions primarily - I'd be quite excited to see them both in the team the season after next. Yup. I would rather offload the deadwood like Essien/Mikel and keep KDB and sign Schurrle. Would certainly reduce the wage bill very slightly, and more importantly the average age. That would also fit in with the club's obvious transfer policy to beat FFP - invest a lot of money in semi-established young-ish talent in the 19-23 age range - it means you can get 5/6 years out of each player, and thus make your money's worth.

^ just one of the best centre-midfielders in European football, no-one special.

How is it ridiculous? The decision to loan out de Bruyne is a sensible one. If Mourinho doesn't fancy him as a player, what is the point him staying merely in a squad player capacity, whilst he can go out on loan and secure his place in the 2014 World Cup? It makes perfect sense to me - you allow de Bruyne to mature and improve by playing week in, week out, without hampering his potential. Furthermore, we still own the player, meaning if he has a brilliant season - and dare I say it, a brilliant World Cup - he would either command a first team place at Chelsea or an inflated price tag, should The Special One make the decision to sell him. I would love to see Kevin given a go but it is pretty clear that - if this speculation is indeed true, which a lot of people are banking on - that Mourinho has his eye elsewhere. If that's the case, I'll go with his judgement, because he's a bit of a better manager than I am.

I think this kid will pleasantly surprise the KDB-brown-nosers.

Tottenham's Gareth Bale is £80m target for Manchester United AND Manchester City AND Chelsea Prem trio are all believed to have made it clear they are willing to spend that much on star also linked with Real Madrid and PSG. http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/bale-transfer-manchester-united-city-1920054#ixzz2UijDcU2J

Player of the season : RvP Young player of the season : Benteke Best transfer of the season : Michu Worst transfer of the season : Danny Graham. Just LOL, he's fucking useless. Best managerial appointment of the season : Laudrup Worst managerial appointment of the season : Redknapp Goal of the season : Suarez vs Newcastle Overachieving team of the season : West Brom Underachieving club of the season : QPR Best match of the season : West Brom 5-5 Man United Best moment of the season : Lampard becoming Chelsea's all-time top scorer. Complaint of the season : Suarez's bite, and Bale's diving

Haha, amen to that one Sammy. Thankfully that's when I take my annual "holiday" away from the forum for a month

Daniele de Rossi: Pros: Ridiculously experienced at club and national level.A born leader - something we have missed in our midfield since Michael Ballack left. Very combative - something we lack without Essien/Makelele/Ballack in the centre of the pitch. He's an aggressive, dynamic player that would make Yaya Toure look like a little lame schoolboy. Huge desire to win. Very passionate player, gives his all.Versatile - not necessarily a brilliant defender, but he can do a job at centre-half, like Mascherano.The transfer fee. £12m at most, most likely. Beats spending twice that on Fellaini, who isn't as good a player. Cons: Age. He will probably have two-three years to give us at best, but within that period we will know whether Chalobah/RLC will be ready to step up.Wages. He is one of the top earners in Serie A. €200,000 (£170,000) a week. But we have just offloaded Malouda (£85,000), Hilario (£10,000), Turnbull (£15,000) and Benayoun (£75,000). Plus, you can't see the club offering that much when Torres is our top earner, on about £140,000 a week. So - those wages will be lowered, and we'd be spending less than we were on dead wood.

We wouldn't. We'd be signing him for £10-£12 million. His wages are no more than what we were paying Malouda and even Benayoun.

"Enjoy being linked" with a player? The transfer market is the most painful part of being a Chelsea fan, especially on this forum.

Perhaps, but Twitter is as reliable as a Nigerian bank account.

I'd be very happy with this signing. He's experienced, versatile. Cheaper than Fellaini, and in my view, a better player technically. Mad as batshit though, but if anyone can keep his players in check it is TSO.