Strike

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?

Another non-update by Fab

No one. Only Arsenal and maybe Villa with Grealish money will even come close.

City will get him I feel - seems like the time has come for a move for Grealish.

No agreement on Kounde. Sevilla asking for 45m euros + Zouma via Fabrizio.

Best 3rd choice keeper in a while? Better than Turnbull, Hilario, Schwarzer at 41, Caballero. Feel like I've missed a few keepers but don't remember when we had a 29 year-old keeper as third choice. Perhaps he wanted to stay in London - his dad is a academy GK coach at Fulham too.

Posturing to attract a big bid. They did the same with Sancho and United didn't go for it. I wonder if Dortmund will be wary of that and accept the first bid this year with Haaland.

In my mother tongue in India, Kounde means ass

When so many teams are pressing high up and hardly any top team plays a CB like Zouma regularly. For the longest time, we have been trying to do away with hoofball too. Sarri's 4-3-3 and Tuchel's 3-4-3 play out of the back and the latter won the Champions League without really breaking a sweat. I don't see Zouma getting minutes under Tuchel other than being thrown on when closing out games. Firmly the 5th choice CB under him at the moment.

On course for 10 updates from Fab before there's anything new or concrete.

Conveniently ignoring how bad Zouma was under Tuchel and how uncomfortable he looked in a ball-playing role. Zouma's set-piece goals last year - Brighton, Palace, Burnley, Leeds, Palace - Just one of them in a tight game vs Leeds.