Jype

While I agree on the part that 'Conte fuming' is just an easy way to get clicks, sell some papers and in general is just lazy journalism but you can't deny that the board really fucked up here if Lukaku was Conte's first choice. Lukaku to Chelsea was really the most straightforward transfer in the history of transfers because the player himself has been quite openly whoring himself back for over a year now with all that talk of 'unfinished business' etc. and going by reports Conte really wanted him back too so the only thing remaining was for the board to pay up the required money. It's a lot of money for Lukaku, yes, but it's not like the club couldn't afford it and they just chose not to so I can understand if Conte is disappointed with them.

As long as the negotiations with Monaco were done, they allowed Bakayoko to have a medical but that doesn't mean eveything with the player himself had to be agreed till then. Around the time we heard news about the medical all reports were saying there's still some stuff to negotiate with contract terms, image rights etc. so maybe they've had some setbacks there that we don't know about and that's stalling the completion of the deal. Caballero was announced on July 1st without a big unveiling having the player player smile to the camera holding the shirt and all that, those can be done in a press conference when the players and manager return for pre-season. I have no doubt Bakayoko would have been announced on the same day if it was really completed but to stall it this far must mean there's still some things to sort out before it's finished, if it ever will be for that matter.

Or more likely the transfer is not actually even completed yet. Everyone and their dog thought Lukaku was in the bag but turns out it wasn't even close, could be the same with Bakayoko that the penny pinchers at the board are trying to save some money and by doing that risk not getting their man at all.

Morata is a Madrid lad through and through, he respects the club too much to make a fuss if he has to stay. Madrid aren't desperate to sell either, it's been Zidane's wish all along to keep him but the player himself is the one who's been wanting to move but he'll stay there if he must.

True, I remember that. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt with Luiz deal, it was deadline day and everyone knows things can change really quickly on deadline transfers. But to say something consistently for a couple months it's most definitely a source inside the club telling him that.

What makes you think that? If anything they should be more confident about getting the full asking price now because they must sense the desperation at Chelsea. With Costa as good as gone and missing out on Lukaku the club need a new striker to target and Real Madrid know there aren't many available so they probably won't budge on the price, and rightly so.

Enough reports about the club and Conte's interest in Lukaku to make me believe he was the number one target all along. Matt Law of the Telegraph has been saying it all this time and if there's one reporter I trust with news about Chelsea it's him. For a few weeks now I've been saying Lukaku deal wasn't as 'close' as many seemed to think because there were zero reliable reports of a transfer fee being agreed or even about negotiations taking place between the clubs but he was still a top target, no doubt about that. The board members were just too busy jerking each other off to do anything about it.

Nah, don't believe so. The club must have thought United were getting Morata and because of that there'd be no competition for Lukaku's signature so they were dithering to try lower Everton's asking price. It's still early in the window so to save even five million by taking things slow might be worth it if they were still sure about getting their man in the end. Then boom, in comes United to hijack with a bid good enough for Everton and it's done in record time much to the embarrassment of the Chelsea board. If the club really 'moved on' as you say, surely we'd have heard something about the next target but until today it was all Lukaku and no one else.

Yep, getting less and less likely by the day. Yet another indication that the media know nothing about what's going on at the club, they're just guessing. It's been weeks since they said he's almost guaranteed to become a Chelsea player but it's all gone quiet since, much like with the Lukaku transfer that in the end went tits up.

Definitely not against signing Llorente. At 32 years old he's probably happy to rejoin Conte's team even as a backup and just enjoy fighting for silverware again. There's also the bonus that Llorente leaving Swansea will mean more game time for young Tammy Abraham who's there on loan. Not one downside to this transfer. However, a top class striker is still a must. Llorente is a decent rotation striker alongside Batshuayi but having them two alone just won't cut it, not even close.

There was one report from the Daily Mail a few weeks back but nothing concrete really. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-4628622/dortmund-aubameyang-sale-63m.html "Aubameyang is a Plan B for Chelsea should a move for Romelu Lukaku fall through, while the same goes for Manchester United in their pursuit of Alvaro Morata." Time to make some moves, Chelsea. Most likely gonna be Morata to target now but Aubameyang is a great option, and available at £63M too.

True, Raiola can't singlehandedly decide where Lukaku ends up at but it's been well known for ages that Mino prefers United because they pay him the most in agent fees, that's why so many of his clients are there (Pogba, Mkhi, Zlatan and soon Lukaku). What I meant was that for United to be in such a strong position that they're confident enough to make a press briefing about the agreement must mean they have gotten guarantees from Lukaku's camp the transfer will go through no matter what. If there was still some uncertainties to sort out or there was a chance of Lukaku still going elsewhere should Chelsea match the bid and contract offer, then United wouldn't have leaked the info to the press. Nothing is signed yet of course but a gentleman's agreement is surely in place between Lukaku, Raiola and United so it's not in anyone's best interest to back out on that.

Nah mate, it's dead in the water. All agreed with United including personal terms with the player, they wouldn't have made a press briefing about it if that wasn't the case. Imagine the embarrassment for United's CEO Ed Woodward if the transfer fell through after he so pompously told BBC and others that they have agreed a deal to sign Lukaku. United also have a very close relationship with Lukaku's agent Mino Raiola so the player and his entourage wouldn't dare back out now and risk that. Trust me, even with a higher offer our chances of getting him now are zero so better to move on to other targets.

From being close to signing Lukaku, Alex Sandro and van Dijk to actually ending up with Llorente, Telles and Rüdiger.

Simon Stone of BBC is saying Rooney talks have got nothing to do with the Lukaku fee, and I believe him.

Still think Lukaku is 100% ours? We had this exact conversation less than two days ago, @petre.ispirescu Unbelievable turn of events. What the hell have the Chelsea board been doing this last month if Lukaku was really up for grabs at £75M which is not at all unreasonable in the current market. United have abandoned their chase for Alvaro Morata which was almost finished so either him or Aubameyang is a must for us now. If we get neither, I don't blame Conte if he handed in his resignation before the season started.

Lukaku played a part in three of first four games of the season in 13/14 including the UEFA Super Cup against Bayern, and although all those were as a substitute. Missed a penalty in the USC and boom, next day he's gone. Zero talk of a move prior to that point and then on deadline day he goes on loan to Everton so my guess would be he had a falling out with Mourinho following that crucial penalty miss that caused Jose yet another loss against his nemesis Guardiola. Could be water under the bridge now and Lukaku is a much better player now than he was back then so Mourinho wouldn't be afraid to play him nowadays but somehow I still doubt he'd want to join Mourinho at United as his first choice if the alternative is to return to the club he supposedly 'loves' and supported as a kid. Chelsea just need to come up with an acceptable offer and he's ours, no doubt about that.

Everton will get Rooney on a free transfer regardless of where Lukaku ends up. Problem with Rooney is his wages, the man is on £300K a week and Everton need to offer something close to that to get him but not having to pay a transfer fee certainly helps with that. United will be more than happy to just get him off their wage bill, they're deluded if they think they're also going to get a transfer fee from anywhere other than China and by the looks of things Rooney himself doesn't want to go there. Situation with him is almost identical to what we had a few years ago with Torres.

Yeah, could be. Still hoping to get Lukaku though. These new reports might as well be someone at Everton spreading rumours to get Chelsea to increase their bid and hurry the fuck up. Transfer like this, it's not really in anyone's best interest to let it drag on for too long.

Matt Lawton, chief sports reporter for Daily Mail, is reporting Lukaku to United for £100M as an almost sure thing. Morata to United is already pretty much done, so could they really be in for Lukaku too and spend a combined £180M for two strikers? Really scary stuff, if true. Would leave Chelsea slightly fucked too, because after Morata and Lukaku there'd be only Aubameyang and Belotti available that even remotely fit the bill. I wouldn't say no to Aubameyang but not sure about Belotti, haven't seen enough of him.

Serie A is not as bad anymore as it was a few years ago, I'd classify the likes of Roma and Napoli as "top teams" just as much as teams like Liverpool, Arsenal and Tottenham are in the PL. Sure, competition is a little bit tougher in English football due to couple more good teams but overall it's still really overrated compared to the other leagues so let's not kid ourselves here by saying that teams in the Prem need that much more quality to compete than top teams in the other leagues do. Nice facts you got there re: Lewandowski. In all competitions he started 45 out of Bayern's 50 competitive games (31 in BuLi, 4 in the DFB Cup, 9 in the CL plus the Super Cup) and was substituted out a whole of six times, with five of those substitutions being after the 80 minute mark. Too lazy to check but pretty sure Cavani started close to 50 games last season too but yeah, PSG didn't really win anything significant so there's that. Dybala is a great player and Mandzukic is not bad either. If you watched any Juve games last season you'd know Mandzukic was primarily played out wide as a winger and Dybala played behind Higuain but pretty much never as a striker. Feel free to disagree but I'm quite certain Chelsea have good wingers or attacking midfielders too like this guy called Eden Hazard, maybe you've heard of him? I compared to other European top teams we're competing against for the CL, because that's what I figured you were after. All those show that it's not some undisputed fact that a team needs to hoard many world class strikers to compete at the highest level. But okey, I'll play this game: Man City - great options in both quality and quantity, I'll give you that. Man United - after this window will most likely have Morata and Rashford. I'd have to be pretty fucking drunk to take that duo ahead of Lukaku/Michy. Liverpool - they've got Firmino who's not really even a real striker although a handy little player, Origi who's shit, Sturridge who's barely fit to play football and Ings who I'm pretty sure everyone has already forgotten about having played about five games for them in two seasons. Not exactly world beaters most of those, are they? Arsenal - Sanchez, Giroud and Perez probably all leaving by the looks of things. Lacazette a lot more unproven than Lukaku and their backup is Danny Welbeck who's both a sick note and a shit striker who can't hit a barn door. Walcott is a decent lad, but plays mostly on the wing anyways. Tottenham - Harry Kane, a great player. After that who do they have that makes you so concerned, Vincent fucking Janssen? That Korean guy is allright, I guess. You're nothing but a bad wind-up merchant who's trying so hard to be controversial.

Everton with their new billionaire shareholder Moshiri and increased income from commercial deals can afford to spend money like they never did before, their incoming transfers have got nothing to do with the money from potential sale of Lukaku. I did say I believe he will eventually join and Everton getting replacements is a step in the right direction towards Lukaku leaving but to suggest it's already completed behind the scenes and only waiting for confirmation is just deluded. The only agreement re: Lukaku I would think to be sorted out is personal terms because it's clear that he wants to return so sorting out a contract with the player won't be a problem. Lukaku is almost 100% sure to leave but it doesn't necessarily have to be for Chelsea if the club fail to stump up enough money. It's well known that Mino Raiola likes to deal with Manchester United nowadays so if the transfer negotiations between Everton and Chelsea drag on for too long I'm sure Raiola will start to make other arrangements as a plan B so he might still easily end up elsewhere too. And before you say United are already getting Morata and don't need Lukaku, that doesn't mean shit. Morata is the perfect striker to play support in a two man setup so they could easily be delpoyed at the same time if by some miracle Lukaku ended up there too. Stranger things have happened and before I see reports of Chelsea actually agreeing a fee with Everton the transfer is still not a sure thing and anything is still possible. If you really believe it's done and dusted, I'll give you a chance to make free money. Lukaku has 1/2 odds (1.50 EU) to complete a transfer to Chelsea. Bet everything you have on that and get 50% value for free, easy. Btw, if it was as close as you claim the betting markets for the transfer would already be closed like they are for Bakayoko and Rüdiger.

In what world was Eto'o, Ba and Torres (Schürrle was not a striker for Chelsea anymore than someone like Pedro is right now so I'm not including him) better than Lukaku and Batshuayi? Hilarious that anyone would even suggest something like that, Lukaku alone will easily score more than all those put together and would expect Batshuayi to chip in with at least +15 in all competitions too, given he'll get more games than last season. Hell, the man scored 9 goals in 703 minutes this past season with practically zero consistent playing time so I have no doubt he'll continue being efficient if he stays at the club. And yeah Drogba & Torres of 2012 were fucking unstoppable too, scored an unprecedented tally of 11 league goals combined between the two of them that season. Prime Drogba of 2010 as the main striker with Anelka and Kalou as other options was a better bunch, obviously. How many great strikers do Bayern have? Or Juventus? Or PSG?

Bakayoko and Rüdiger are done, yes. Lukaku however is an entirely different scenario and I wouldn't put it in the same category as those two. There's nothing to suggest it's anywhere near completion and Everton are playing some serious hardball with the transfer negotiations whereas those other two are all done and dusted, just waiting for official confirmations from the club. I do believe Lukaku will eventually end up joining, but it's not 100% yet and in football things can change very quickly so there can still be some twists and turns coming up in this saga. If Lukaku transfer were to fail, the club'd be fucked because Costa leaving is already set in stone, Morata is going to Manchester and I'm not quite convinced about Belotti just yet. Alex Sandro I would classify as a 50/50 whether he'll join or not. Everything suggests Juve are willing to sell him for the price Chelsea are offering but player could still easily end up staying if he wants to. Juve obviously can't pay as much as Chelsea are offering, but we need to remember that money isn't always everything to these guys and he might just be happy where he's at right now so a good offer from Juve could turn the scales towards staying. I'm sure his agent knows what he's doing and will drag this on to squeeze every last bit from the club, be it Chelsea or Juventus. Case like this it's not really in the player's best interest to just complete the deal quickly but rather play it slow and see who's got the best poker face during negotiations. Chelsea might make a desperate over the odds offer if it's starting to look like he might stay and vice versa for Juventus, they might offer silly money as a last ditch effort to keep him if his agent tell them he's edging towards leaving. Trust me guys, this one won't be settled very quickly so better to fasten your seatbelts and prepare for the ride.

Nope, it's done already. Everything agreed in principle, player just needs to have a medical and sign the contract. A Roma supporter told me their club needed €30M income by the end of June to comply with FFP, so that's where the Rüdiger sale comes in and that's why the deal was agreed out of the blue in less than 24 hours. It all happened because their sale of Kostas Manolas to Zenit fell through at the last minute and they needed to complete another deal fast. If (or rather when) the sale to Chelsea goes through, Roma will get the transfer fee income included in their financial books for year 16/17 because it was already agreed before the end of last month and they're in clear waters with UEFA. However if a club like Man City now hijacked the deal and records show that the transfer was only agreed in July, Roma would be fucked with FFP sanctions because the income would appear on their books for 17/18 and for last year they'd be €30M short of complying with the rules. Any reports linking the player to Man City are just tabloids writing shit and trying desperately to sell papers.