Strike

Rice, Tchouameni links have gone cold for weeks. Doesn't look like there's time to do a deal. I was thinking Ampadu or Chalobah might get the chance but both were used at CB in pre-season.

Lot of ifs there and the Hazard comparison is far off. Never looked like Haaland had a serious desire to come here. He was thinking about it because there was no one else at the negotiation table this year. I doubt he would stay 6 years even if we did break the bank to sign him.

Would take it over winning Super Cup, CWC and losing everything else 👍

🤣 Winning those trophies won't mean half as much as winning a league title even with the novelty of winning it for the first time.

This might affect the Tammy, Zapata, Lukaku merry-go-round.

Makes him the footballer with the highest cumulative transfer fee paid for in his career - £293 million £18m to Chelsea. £28m to Everton. £76m to Man United. £74m to Inter. £97m to Chelsea. Neymar is second highest at £246m and Ronaldo third at £191m.

They'd have done it in the Lukaku deal itself if they were in need. Quite clearly want cash

Was going by the 120m euros figure- that was 101m pounds. Not sure what the final fee was. If Grealish is higher- perfect. Less pressure that way

Lukaku's British record deal is really flying under the radar with the Messi news.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2021/08/04/romelu-lukaku-will-agree-Chelsea-move-meet-inter-milans-valuation/

Any other club in the mix for Zouma? We need him to get the hint and move on

Doesn't it feel like the league is out of reach this year - with or without Lukaku? Winning the league has taken around 90 points since the Leicester 2016 win. Tuchel has made improved the team but the margins become smaller as we go closer to the top. City and Pep are league machines unfortunately.

Guardiola is a league winning machine. Will be tough to win a league where we need 90+ points.

I would continue with Havertz as false 9 and sign a cheaper alternative than spend this money on Lukaku. But it is hilarious how many are not acknowledging that Lukaku is a level above any striker we have and any striker in the market except Kane and Haaland.

I think club sees next season as an impossible scenario with other clubs in the mix.

I think Torres was worse. It was a club record signing + the striker supposed to lead the team for years. Trying to get him to work restricted opportunities for Sturridge and Lukaku. Kepa had a decent first season and was poor in the second year under Lampard. Club acted swiftly to get Mendy in so the damage is not as much

Think people dont remember just how monumentally bad that Torres signing was.

Matt Law, Fabrizio, Simon Johnson of Athletic. It's all the top tier sources reporting

Couldn't be any more different. We still have 3 deadwood from the 2017 summer we haven't cleared out!

Matt Law did mention that the club was still talking to Inter about Lukaku

I'm glad the club has done nothing - I don't think anyone better is available/has moved in the positions we are targeting.

Fabrizio is sorted for another week

That's true. This signing can be left for later. But do think that Kai needs a genuine #9 backup if we can't sign Haaland/Lukaku

Disagree. I now don't have the belief that Timo's finishing issue will ever be resolved. We will have another year of him trying to force goals from tight angles, taking the wrong option and panicking under pressure. We need another striker option and not someone green like Broja who will have issues of his own to work through in his game. I am not sure if Ings is the right option because I think the striker should not just be a poacher/finisher but be equally good at pressing, making runs all game. But having Broja as option #2 screams bad management

How has he not finished?