Jype

Sign the guy our very own legend Papy Djilobodji is at Sunderland to displace from the starting XI. The banter is real.

Kind of agree with that, signings like this are not made overnight so if the bid is now £40M that's a good starting point for negotiations which might drag on for a while so expecting the club to just throw around money like it's nothing is stupid. However, the club have already had months to address the defender issue and after the Rüdiger deal fell through with the ACL injury it's like almost as if the club just gave up on signing a CB and only nearing the end of pre-season remembered that the team's defense is quite frankly full of shit. In the meantime they've been busy chasing Lukaku whose signing would be more than ridiculous, not to mention hell of a lot more expensive than Koulibaly could ever be. Now that is something I can understand people slagging the board over, but not for trying to be sensible about the situation now. What do you mean? Just today there was a way more expensive defender signing announced by Manchester City than what the highest bid for Koulibaly has been at any point.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3731411/Chelsea-turn-Sunderland-defender-Lamine-Kone-alternative-Napoli-s-Kalidou-Koulibaly.html The meltdown here would be unreal if we ended up signing the guy who's gonna lose his place at Sunderland to our very own Papy Djilobodji who everyone considered a joke.

If the signing would improve our starting lineup, who cares what it would look like to others? If anything there's a chance to make City look like real mugs if Conte managed to get the best out of Mangala, which is not that far fetched when you think about it. There's a reason City paid £40M for him two years ago and even tho he hasn't been at his best he's still just 25 years old, not even reached his prime yet. City just aren't that good with defenders really, they had fucking Jerome Boateng but sold him to Bayern for peanuts. That Stefan Savic lad wasn't all bad either, just didn't fit in at City but was great at Fiorentina and now plays at Atletico Madrid who are really good defensively. I'm telling you, whoever gets Mangala will get a pretty good player and I'd assume for a reasonable price too considering the current market with no cheap quality defenders available. And as for giving City more spending power that should be the least of worries, firstly because they will sell Mangala to somebody else if not us and get the money anyway and secondly who else could they possibly still buy with that spending power? They've brought like six or seven players in already this window and there's a limit for everything, the money they'll get from any sales has already been spent this summer. Really doubt we'll get Mangala but I would really like it if we did. Koulibaly first priority but if the negotiations for him aren't going anywhere say this time next week the club should just move on and start considering other options, and Mangala should be one of them.

No it most definitely wasn't. Lots of people were frustrated with Mourinho not giving the guy a fair chance and knew we had missed out on a wonderful player when he was sold, but at the same time admitted that with Mourinho in charge it was the only option that made sense because he clearly didn't rate De Bryune and keeping him was in nobody's best interest. Nobody in 2014 predicted Mourinho's sudden downfall and at the time it was pretty obvious that Jose was gonna be staying at least a couple more years and things were looking really positive for the team (which even resulted in a league title a year later) so there was absolutely no point holding onto De Bruyne when the choice was between keeping him and sacking Mourinho on the spot in 2014, or keeping Jose and selling KdB. Decisions to sell the likes of Mata, KdB, Lukaku, Schürrle and Fliipe Luis were all controversial amongst the fans with most acknowledging their quality but at the same time having to make peace with the fact that Mourinho wanted them gone and in a battle between a single player and a pre-meltdown Mourinho the latter was always going to win.

Would definitely take him, no doubt about that. Hasn't been that good for City but can't be worse than our current lot and got a feeling Conte would make better use of him than Pellegrini did.

Mangala is certain to leave, wasn't even named in their CL playoff yet Stones was. He's been shit for City but call me crazy I'd still have him at Chelsea anytime, couldn't do worse than our current lot and would have potential to be a big hit next to his countryman Zouma. Doubt City would sell him to us tho.

Rumors on Italian media about a new Chelsea bid for Koulibaly at €40M. Hope this transfer gets done, can't even put to words how bad the defense is atm.

Yep, that's absolutely shameful. Just a few days ago I thought to myself Michy comes across as one of the nicest athletes I've seen on social media, the way he interacted with as many fans as he could who messaged him. Now this happens and for what, some fucking missed chances in pre-season? Smh

So you don't think there's even the slightest truth about Chelsea being interested in signing Lukaku? According to those reports Lukaku has not "asked for a raise", he's being offered one because Everton want to show him they appreciate his services and don't want to lose him. Can't think of any other reason for that except Chelsea having made them an offer for him and Lukaku telling his club he wants to go. But yeah you're right about one thing. Mino Raiola is an expert with stuff like that and he always has and always will tout his players about moves for two reasons: either actually get the move (to get £££ himself and for the player), or simply get improved contract at current club. About Lukaku to Chelsea I'd say there's too much smoke for there not to be a fire and I really don't think it's all just bullshit rumors with the aim of getting a better salary at Everton. The club are definitely interested, for reasons completely unknown to me because Lukaku is not really that good, but remains to be seen whether the signing is actually made. I hope not.

Christensen had already gone on his two year loan long before Papy Djilobodji was signed. The reason AC went on loan in the first place was because it was pretty obvious Mourinho would never make him a starter that season and everyone at the time thought it was best for him to go somewhere he can actually play top level football and learn the game. Back then it also looked likely we would be signing John Stones or some other CB, but failed on that pursuit and as a last straw press of the panic button ended up with Papy on deadline day instead. Don't get me wrong, I really like Christensen and have huge expectations for the lad but let's not rewrite history here. It was a masterstroke to send him to Mönchengladbach and he's developed his game massively during his time there, and will continue to do so for another year and after that I'd argue he's more than ready to come back to Chelsea and claim his rightful place in the squad to rotate with Zouma and the guy who we're going to be signing this window, whoever that may be. Terry's probably going next year and Cahill ain't good enough so it's the perfect time for Christensen to come back.

Any idea what the transfer fee was? EDIT: According to SkySports it was £8M. What in the name of fuck, who in board pulled that rabbit out of the hat? They deserve a statue.

Nah, could just as well be Everton trying to keep hold of him by offering improved wages. Happens most times when clubs wish to keep want-away players, much like Kante at Leicester only he turned down the contract extension to join us. Either way, I do hope he takes the offer because that would put these Lukaku rumors to bed for at least another year.

Surely that can't be right? That would mean over £40M a year.

Latest silly season rumors taking him to Real Madrid for £34M. Even tho I want him to stay, for that kind of money I'd travel to London and escort him to Madrid myself. Not gonna happen anyways, but one can only hope.

Says the guy who had a dig at Wenger a few minutes into his first presser both at Man United now and at Chelsea three years ago when he made return to the PL. It's true what they say, he's a cunt but at least till last year he was our cunt and it was little bit easier to swallow all that bullshit.

Like I said Christensen himself has also come out saying he wants to stay another year, with the intention of being even more ready for Chelsea in 2017 so it's good to honor the wishes of the player too. Gladbach, a club a good league with CL ambitions and a record of developing young players, seem like a really good loan destination for our best youngsters (T. Hazard before his permanent move and now Christensen) so there could be a future in that relationship but the respect needs to go both ways and it's not exactly a good idea to fuck it up by breaking the contract. Maybe in the future some of our other young gems like Musonda can go there and take similar huge leaps in development before potentially returning to the Chelsea squad.

A few Arsenal fans I know have been going on about them being after Mustafi for a few weeks now, would be so funny if Chelsea swooped in to the signing in the background and leave Arsenal empty handed. Would also be a great signing, so there's that.

Haha yep. From what I've seen over here on TC there's only one guy who's desperate for the signing, everyone else wants the club to stay as far away as possible. Never ever before have I seen so many people against a signing because usually everyone wants shiny new players, in other words the new flavor of the month, but nobody seems to want Lukaku so if that's not enough proof that it would be a pretty shit signing I don't know what is.

Yeah and that's why @The Skipper said he'd rather not sign Lukaku and instead see what Michy can do. I agree with him.

You're right, the club need HG players but not so desperately that it makes any sense to make Lukaku, who's not even that good, the fourth most expensive player in the history of football. In this transfer window £75M might not be enough to get you Griezmann or Müller, mostly because they're not moving anywhere and because Chelsea atm wouldn't get these players either way, but it should with a 100% certainty be enough to get a player better than Lukaku. And if no better players than Lukaku are available, why not turn to the massively cheaper alternatives that I have mentioned to you many times (Lacazette or Chicharito)? And yeah again you're right, I don't know Raiola or Mendes personally but what I do know is their reputation and that is haggling enough to make anyone roll over and give in to their demands to get the absolute best possible deal for themselves and their clients. Hell, the Pogba to United transfer has been pretty much done and dusted for weeks but the only thing remaining is negotiating the £20-30M piece (!!!) Raiola is going to be taking from the table and he won't budge one bit. These guys are brilliant businessmen and know every negotiating tactic in the world, as can be witnessed from the various record breaking deals they've been a part of in the past. If Raiola smells blood he will pounce, and Chelsea's obvious desperation in buying a new striker is exactly that. And £75M is still £75M, even if Everton do still owe Chelsea some installments. The £28M was recorded as a one-off profit in the 2014 finances and this potential £75M will be divided over the 5 year contract length at £15M a year should the deal be completed. The only thing potentially lowering the price is if like in KDB's case Chelsea have some sell-on clause for Lukaku that give the club like 20% of any future sale. In that case £75M minus 20% would actually mean £60M because the club would be first paying £75M and then get £15M of that back from Everton. So far I haven't seen anything indicating that is the case and the price remains £75M, which is nothing but fucking ridiculous and completely unnecessary spending.

Exactly, and weren't there also some rumours earlier this summer that Chelsea were thinking about paying some penalty to break the loan deal early, which I'm sure with enough money would have been entirely possible, but then Christensen came out saying he in fact prefers to stay at Gladbach for a second year to help with his development? Playing in the Bundesliga at a CL level club has been a massive learning experience for young Christensen and another season there as their first choice CB will make him even better. Sure he could be a valuable asset even this season but I don't mind him staying there one more year if that's what has been agreed between the clubs and if Christensen himself wants it.

I'm well aware we can't sign Griezmann or Müller, but those are exactly the kind of players £75M should fetch and not Lukaku. It's not very smart to pay way over the odds for a player only because there's no better options available. And like I mentioned in my earlier post, if we're going for a player of that profile I would consider someone like Javier Hernandez at fraction the price a better option because he's also a proven goalscorer. Alexandre Lacazette would be another pretty solid option at half the price. As for my claim about the wages Lukaku would sign for, I agree that we don't know what happens in these negotiations but what I do know is Mino Raiola. Along with Jorge Mendes he's the number one agent in world football and when he starts negotiating transfers or contract extensions it's a guarantee that he'll come out on top, always has and always will. Just need to look at what kind of figures we're talking about with Zlatan or Pogba this summer and Raiola's other deals in the past to make it pretty easy to conclude that Lukaku won't be signing on squad player wages even tho that is the role he would initially come for. If the only reason the club would be desperate enough to pay crazy money in transfer fee for Lukaku is that they don't see any other options, don't you think Raiola and Lukaku will use that in salary negotiations too?

Goals of course decide games, but need to look at the bigger picture. I don't see you advocating the signing of Ighalo from Watford or Defoe from Sunderland, yet they're both also decent goalscorers in the Premier League at lower level clubs. Hell, if we're going for a donkey who scores goals but does little else we should buy Javier Hernandez from Bayer Leverkusen, the lad scored 26 in 40 last season but would cost only a tiny fraction of Lukaku's price and also comes with the mythical "proven in the PL" tag many seem to appreciate. In modern football simple goal poachers with very little footballing ability apart from scoring are very, very rare at top clubs. Like someone said earlier, there's a reason why Mario Gomez was dumped from Bayern despite a goalscoring record almost second to none. You asked earlier for alternatives if Lukaku isn't bought, and dismissed the idea of buying no one by saying it would be like giving up on the whole season and possibly risking the club's future. I'd say it's quite the contrary. Is your memory really that short, have you completely forgotten how the nightmare of Fernando Torres deeply hurt the club five years ago? He turned out to be a big money flop and took three and a half years to get rid of him because of the huge investment and absurd wages he had, and through that whole fiasco the club avoided "marquee signings" in the striker department because for starters the club couldn't afford any and also because the board were afraid of another massive flop. Now, which one you think is more of a risk: buying Lukaku for £75M and no doubt £250-300K a week wages (Raiola won't allow a player that expensive to sign on reasonable wages, as the hands down most expensive player in club's history he's gonna demand highest wages too) with the chance of him being as mediocre as many are predicting and again like Torres impossible to replace even when better strikers were to be available in another year or two, or alternatively just stick with what we got and see where that leads us? It's not like Costa, Michy, Traore, Remy (with Hazard and maybe even RLC also being capable of playing as the deeper striker) are so shit that it's impossible to make top4 this season as long as the defense gets sorted out first. If Lukaku is bought for £75M and massive wages that's going to mean no other big striker signings for a good few years. Lukaku at the moment couldn't be further away from a proven elite player who can handle the pressure of being the top dog at a top club with CL ambitions and there's absolutely no way of telling if he'll ever become that. Maybe he will, maybe he won't but that my friend is a £75M gamble I wouldn't take because if it backfires things will get really ugly really fast.

Not really. He was bought for €16M two and a half years ago and now sold for €15M which would seem like a loss at first glance but you're forgetting that Roma paid a €5M loan fee last year and I couldn't find any figures about his loan to Fiorentina but as a loan fee of sorts the transfer of Juan Cuadrado was less than it would've been without Salah going the other way on loan. Of course there's wages but for 12 months that Salah spent at Chelsea and not on loan I doubt his salary was that much. Also he was not exactly part of the "loan army" as you said, because in 2014 he was bought directly for first team use and looked promising in the beginning but then all of a sudden Mourinho just didn't trust him anymore, which happened to other players and not just Salah. Purchase clause as part of the loan deal agreed last year (€5M loan fee for 15/16 + €15M option for this summer), nothing the club could've done differently about it because it's not like we were interested in any of their players last year so I doubt it even crossed anyone's mind that a year later we might have Conte in charge who's very much interested in Nainggolan and it would be a good idea to include some options to the Salah deal regarding that. Roma actually announced the permanent transfer as early as October last year but I guess the paperwork was only finished now, or Chelsea were just too lazy to announce it earlier. I'd guess it's the latter because there's no new info on Roma's website and as far as they're concerned Salah has been their player since last year.