Jype

He doesn't need the same funds as he did in 2004 to compete because our current squad has more talent now than it did back then. In 2004 he spent £140m and now we just need a couple of good impact signings to improve our team enough to really challenge for the title. DDR 10m Hulk / Sanchez / Di Maria / Schürrle / someone else 20-25m Cavani 35m + Torres if we're lucky. That's roughly 80m spent and together with a few sales (Marin, Essien, Bruma, Kakuta?) the net spend wouldn't be too much anymore, would it? Then exclude Malouda, Benayoun, Ferreira and Hilario from the wage bill when they're released and that should cover the wages of all new signings. You saying the club couldn't afford that?

Not sure if already mentioned but something could happen as early as tonight, seeing as Mourinho, Leverkusen director Rudi Völler and Schürrle himself are all in Leipzig for Ballack's farewell match.

Hulk is 26, what on earth is questionable about that? After buying some young players recently it's like people think signing players over the age of 25 is all of a sudden out of the question. Seriously, what the fuck? Hulk is only nearing his peak and has at least four or five years in him before he starts to decline. The team needs players who are at least somewhat more experienced, you won't win anything with just U23 players in the team. People play way too much FM and FIFA these days...

Me too. New players are definitely needed on the wings, especially on the right, and Hulk fits the bill. He's experienced some racism there in Russia and also some envy from his team mates who earn less money than him so he could be looking to leave the club this summer. Should be available for around €25m if he asked for a transfer so if Mourinho wants this guy, I wouldn't say no. Most likely bullshit rumours though.

What the hell does his age matter if he's good enough to make our squad favorite for the title and would be the perfect short term solution for the most important part of our team? Did you see United fans complaining when they got a 29yo Van Persie for £24m and on massive wages? No, you did not because they were just happy knowing that guy would single-handedly win them the title and he did. With most areas of our team already very good, I honestly believe DDR would have a similar effect to our squad. For 10m plus an 18-year-old prospect on loan to Roma this could be one of the best pieces of business the club have ever done.

@calculatingInfinity, your gif has made it to TalkSport. http://www.talksport.co.uk/magazine/virals/130603/mourinho-terry-and-abramovich-throw-out-rafa-and-torres-funny-animation-198848

Fuck you, Choo Choo!

Known about this for a long time now but still it feels amazing to see it made official at last. Welcome back José! In WHS we trusted. Should be no contest for member of the month.

In his contract at Leverkusen there is a €14m release clause which becomes active next summer.

WHS

I rate this guy and think he'd improve our team but there's plenty of fish in the sea if Leverkusen start causing trouble. Schürrle will be available for €14m next year so we really shouldn't overspend on him this year, simply go after another target and snap him up next summer if he's still wanted.

Title challenge, comfortable top3 finish at the very least Champions League QFs FA Cup semis League Cup doesn't matter Win the USC Priority should be to cement our position as potential title winners with the Manchester clubs from 2014 onwards and any success in the coming season is a bonus. All this depends on the new signings of course, if we succeed in the market my expectations may be a bit higher by the start of the season.

Yep, didn't fancy the manager Zeman but that guy was a mad man.

Maybe they declined the initial €12m offer?

Yes? A proven player in the Bundesliga who's good enough for the German national team, but not by any means a superstar like Neymar etc.

How on earth are those deals comparable? You have to understand the concept of buying players. If you think it's all about the transfer fee, you are very much mistaken. Wages, agent fees, signing bonuses etc. usually amount to much more than the transfer fee itself and in Neymar's case with the third party ownerships and everything these costs are fucking massive. Spanish media are reporting that as much as €40m will be paid as a signing on fee directly to Neymar and his father and Barcelona also paid €10m to Santos a year ago as a part of a pre-contract agreement. Then there's wages of 150k a week for five years. You see how these figures are adding up? Going by those reports, in reality Neymar cost Barcelona almost double the amount we paid for Eden Hazard and that's with Neymar's contract running up in 2014. With Schürrle it will be pretty much the €20m fee and reasonable wages for a player of his status.

Not too disappointed if he goes on loan, although I think he's already more than good enough to play for Chelsea and would have preferred him coming back for next season. If anything, I'm relieved if we're not selling him to Dortmund. Now he can prove himself in a much better team and play in the Champions League instead of fighting against relegation like Werder Bremen did so if he continues playing well throughout the season, next summer will be the time to finally decide what to do with him. Either he comes back or goes for a good price, way more than €15m. What makes some of you think this move will drive him out of the club? One could always assume he'll be happy to stay in the league he destroyed this season and in a team where he'll be a guaranteed starter with the World Cup coming up next summer. With the talent Belgium have, he wouldn't be starting for them in the WC if he didn't play enough at Chelsea but at Leverkusen he will play most of the games and his place in the national squad should be safe.

Liverpool have officially signed Kolo Toure. Looks like they've finally accepted the fact they're now a mid-table club.

Di Matteo got West Brom promoted and he joined Chelsea as an assistant. Sure, he got sacked from that same West Brom team a while later but Zola has also tried managing in the PL at West Ham and got the sack as well. Maybe a couple of years under Mourinho at the club he loves would do his managerial career good, it's not like he doesn't have the time or anything. Personally I don't believe he would join as an assistant tbh, but stranger things have happened.

"Given the motivation and stimulation he gave me, I would have killed for Mourinho." - Zlatan back in 2011. Hadn't even considered him an option up until now because I was sure he wouldn't leave PSG but maybe he could be available after all. For me Zlatan is the best centre forward in the world and age wouldn't be an issue as we have Lukaku. If (when) the likes of Cavani, Falcao, Lewandowski move elsewhere, I would love to have this guy for a couple of years and I'm sure Mourinho would love to have him. He tried to sign him for Real Madrid from Barcelona in 2010 but Barca preferred selling him to Milan instead of their fierce rivals.

You call winning the Premier League, Champions League, Europa League, four FA Cups and a League Cup all within those seven years suffering? I'd happily take some more of the same but maybe that's just me.Jesus Christ, some people...

That Italian journo Palmeri or something said yesterday that Zlatan will ask for a move if Ancelotti goes and that guy's been spot on lately. Mentioned Chelsea, Man City and Real Madrid as possible destinations. Age wouldn't be that much of a problem seeing as we have Lukaku waiting on the sidelines. Of course someone like Cavani would be better value for money because he'd have more re-sale value and probably lower wages but if all else fails, I wouldn't mind ending up with Zlatan.

Now why the hell would he do that? He's not an idiot who would sell some of the best players in the league.

No way we'd ever sell a talent like Azpi after he's already proven himself. The right-back position has been a problem for years before this season so when we finally got a 23 year old star for the position we have to keep him. No matter how thankful Cesar is to Benitez, I doubt he'd want to leave Chelsea for Napoli when he's certain to be a starter under the next manager as well. Also Napoli already have Christian Maggio who's a great player, they don't need Azpi.

If anything, it's plastic to give the armband to a player just because he cost £50m even though he has done fuck all for the club when there are more seasoned players available and probably our next captain David Luiz in the starting lineup as well.