Jase

Think we were happy to keep both but both wanted to leave. Cech felt he could still play week in week out while Luiz, IIRC, was told his starting place wasn't guaranteed anymore and he decided to pack it in. Mind you, when Luiz left last summer, he had 2 years left on his contract and was on bigger wages than Martinez is right now and yet, we sold him for only 8 million because he wanted to leave.

Is it different? Both players wanted to leave and we were "forced" to sell them, which is the same case here with Martinez.

That may be true but I'd argue that with a very congested season coming up, the risk of injuries is high. Having 5 subs will give clubs some "leeway" in their substitutions. No manager would want to use the 3 subs because of injuries.

It's the international football next week. Havertz will head off for Germany NT on Monday.

The others would have to be pretty shit if 4 teams end up with more than 80-90 points.

Random news... https://www.ol.fr/en/contents/articles/2020/08/28/club-statement Aouar tested positive for COVID-19...

He has only 2 years left on his contract, which makes him worth around 20 million. According to The Athletic, he has some sort of agreement with Arsenal to let him go and they may be forced to let him go on the cheap.

We would certainly have to defend a little deeper and make sure he doesn't get exposed as much as we tend to with our defenders this past season.

No one is really disputing that but giving him the captaincy immediately is kinda ridiculous, especially he has limited English and not fully familiar with the entire dressing room plus still new in the country. Moreover, when you are the captain of a club, you have more responsibility off the field than just on it. The point about those 4 players mentioned is that players don't necessarily need the armband to lead. You mentioned Van Dijk earlier and his impact at Liverpool, he's not even the captain. He's the 2nd vice captain/3rd captain. Can see Thiago being made a vice captain but not the captain.

2017/18 summer spending: Rudiger - £29 million Bakayoko - £40 million Morata - £58 million Zappacosta - £23 million Drinkwater - £35 million Total - £185 million 2020/21 summer spending: Ziyech - £36 million Werner - £47 million Chilwell - £50 million Silva - Free Total - £133 million *fee taken from Wikipedia. So give and take a little if it's not accurate.

His agent is Mino Raiola. So the club won't even think of doing a deal...

Leverkusen going after Havertz replacements is what is holding up the deal apparently...

- Show clear progression (duh!) - Close the gap on the top two - No more fucking about for a Top 4 finish. Must finish in it comfortably! - Win at least one of the domestic trophies - This one would depend on our luck but get past the UCL Round of 16 at least

This...

Cheap or not, I don't think we can afford to get it wrong with our next keeper. We wouldn't want to be in another situation where we are forced to chop and change the keeper again. If a better one costs more, just go for it. The keeper is one position we can't afford to be stingy with it.

Doubt it. We'll need to sell to also balance the books.

LMAO

LOL No Emerson to Inter then...

We have some spare players, West Ham...

https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2020/08/28/watch-chelsea-s-first-pre-season-fixture-live-?cardIndex=0-2 The friendly to be shown live on the app and website tomorrow.

Ironic that you said "no disrespect to Azpilicueta" and then proceeded to disrespect him by saying he should be replaced as captain by our latest new shiny toy... The need for Silva to take the armband is silly and overrated anyway. We had the likes of Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Cech etc all in the past and they didn't even need the armband to lead the team.