Strike

Koulibaly quickly going in the bust section. Our bust : hit ratio with transfers has been so bad in recent years. Only Thiago Silva has been an unquestionable success and even that is with the caveat of free transfer, age meaning less expectations.

Good night

been doing that consistently. Has gotten old now It's been quiet with Moukoko. He's not said he will not join Chelsea. The Athletic reported his agent is keen to get him to the Premier League for next season after running down the contract. That probably explains why there seems to be no activity this month. Ornstein said this a month ago - A move to Chelsea is certainly not done but other Premier League clubs are under the impression it is advanced and are watching closely

Nothing in recent years

Jorginho over City (due to Sarri) Werner over Liverpool can be considered at a stretch

We have realised in the summer that when there is competition from the big teams, Chelsea are rarely first choice

Going by the strong reactions from Benfica calling it 'unacceptable', the negotiating team dropped the ball here. They should figure that Benfica are not desperate for cash - sold Nunez in the summer and have sold Felix in the last few years for similar money. This low-balling has made the chances of a deal very slim and it is not just in hindsight, there were plenty saying this before the official negotiation - that it would take an amount close to the release clause to have any hope of striking a deal

He did well. I have to say

Few positives to take from this - Zakaria and Kovacic did okay in midfield. I see many Chelsea centric folks praising them over the moon but I thought they were overwhelmed in the 2nd half. The kids and Connor ran about in the end. Put more pressure on the City backline than I've seen the seniors do in months.

Auba needed to be subbed

Ah damn. Kepa didn't throw himself at that weirdly

After playing out of their press with ease for forty five mins we haven't got out of our half so far

Has been a shaky restart. No longer the same game

Kovacic and Cucurella playing well so far I thought

1:30 over here. Will be up for the meltdown

Fans know no better but they are not the ones making decisions - Boehly and co are - and they need to face scrutiny. They have had a pretty long rope. They spent record figures in the summer and chased after many like Raphinha, Kounde, Kimpembe, De Ligt. How many of the signings they made are looking like they fit into their role? Koulibaly and Aubameyang could be moved on now and nobody would notice the difference. The team is still in the same level and results are worse since key players are injured. Has the board learnt from the summer? They don't seem to have a clear plan for January. One week into the window and they've signed a third CB in six months, are chasing a 120m who shot to fame in the WC and a winger who is eager to go to Arsenal. I'd wait and watch but it is true we've spent weeks before the window opened and the first week of the window negotiating for Enzo Fernandez. Compare that to Newcastle and their signings over last two windows. More sensible decisions even if there was only one seriously good pickup - Bruno Guimares. Others like Targett, Chirs Wood and Dan Burn are filling roles quite well and were relatively inexpensive.

It is really something when you have verbally discussed a price, you have a player agitating for a move and still don't close the deal. The club will come out with word through journos that 'they won't be held to ransom' but I wonder who they will target for the midfield now? Even a Moises Caicedo is being quoted at 60-70m and looks like a tough deal to pull off too. This alignment of stars may not happen again with Enzo

English boomer thinking. Not surprised at all. It is still a disaster waiting to happen - Declan Rice signed for 80-100m at the end of all this.

I'm a big Boehly skeptic - I don't think all the PR in the world will be able to hide his track record and the chaotic energy he has brought with him to two windows now. All this talk about 'data driven' signings but I have very little hope that this supergroup boardroom can build a squad. Even with Vivell and Stewart joining, this chaotic market energy has remained. The Enzo deal could still get done but did they really not read the situation that Benfica have negotiating power even though there is a release clause? The longer this drags on, Benfica will only lock into their release clause stance.

What is the hurry? There is no one else negotiating and we are paying a Premier League record fee. I think its important to get the payment terms we prefer

was a stop-gap midfield fix if anything until Kovacic returned to full speed from the WC. I think it will be a disaster to field Zakaria vs City

Looking back - Sarri changed the way we played significantly by refreshing the midfield - Bakayoko, Fabregas left Jorginho and Kovacic walked in. This change had a big effect on our best performances even under Lampard and Tuchel - where the team was able to break the press of top teams like City, Madrid. I remember there was a 2-1 loss vs City under Lampard where the team looked extremely comfortable breaking City's feared pressing. Under Tuchel, we beat City thrice in a row in 21. Kante Jorgi and Kova all at their peak in that run. All this was partly due to the attention paid to "good football". Our midfield signing after Jorgi/Kova if you ignore the Saul, Zakaria loans is going to be Enzo if we can get the deal over the line - It has been long overdue. I'd wait and give Potter time with the team they aim to build.

Saka contract is not extended isn't it? They might be acting on the feeling Saka might not extend (contract till 24)