Strike

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/jun/06/chelsea-alvaro-morata-juventus-antonio-conte?CMP=share_btn_tw http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/06/06/chelsea-open-talks-over-alvaro-morata-transfer/ Guardian and The Telegraph fanning the flame now.

Not a starter at Juve, No great overall scoring record either. But admittedly, a very good knack for scoring/ making a nuisance of himself in important matches. I don't know how I feel about this one. At age 23, I'd take the punt and sign him. Costa- Morata and Remy should be fine. Send Falcao and Pato packing

Agree with few. Disagree with many. I think focussing heavily on Serie A players represents a significant change in direction for the club, one that the club may well take. For a long time I refused to believe the idea that Conte will not look past the Italian league. But now I am less sure of that. It makes sense that he signs from the Serie A since he has studied the league inside out, working there for years and managing the national team but players from the Serie A in particular have found the Premier League a very different ball game. Morata, Icardi, Florenzi, Higuain, Insigne, Berardi, I have serious reservations

Agree with this. But this true for most leagues in Europe. Not just Serie A

Agree with Dybala and Pogba. Who else?

Newcastle did it and got relegated. That is not my point

Managers tend to sign players they know well. So it is no surprise that Chelsea are linked with several players from the Serie A as Italian manager Antonio Conte gets set to take over in July. The Roma trio of Antonio Rudiger, Kostas Manolas and Radja Nainggolan, the Juventus pair of Kwadwo Asamoah and Paul Pogba, Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly have all been linked with moves to the club even before the manager officially takes over. This represents a significant shift in Chelsea’s transfer targets and seems to be highly influenced by the incoming Conte. While it is a positive sign that Conte looks to be involved heavily in the club’s transfer policy, the club could do better than to plunder the Serie A’s best talents. Historically, a few iconic Chelsea players made the switch from Italy. Gianfranco Zola, regarded as the greatest player in Chelsea history joined from Parma in 1996 and took Chelsea to new heights in his time in London. Marcel Desailly joined from AC Milan and went on to become club captain and a key component of Chelsea’s defence for years before relinquishing his spot to John Terry. Since then, Chelsea have had a string of high-profile signings from the Serie A that have backfired on the club. Adrian Mutu and Hernan Crespo joined Chelsea from Parma and Inter Milan respectively in 2003. Mutu misfired both on and off the pitch while Hernan Crespo turned out to be a mixed bag. Both signings were made by another Italian manager- Claudio Ranieri and it was the last time the club looked into talents from the Serie A with close introspection. In 2006, Mourinho famously signed Andriy Shevchencko who, if not for Fernando Torres, would still be regarded as Chelsea’s biggest flop. Two years later, the Brazilian manager Luis Felipe Scolari signed Ricardo Quaresma on loan, who did not make much of an impact. Neither did the youngster Fabio Borini, who was signed from Italy for the Chelsea youth team. Post Borini, Chelsea rarely ventured into signing talents from the Serie A. Even Italian manager Carlo Ancelotti, who had a two year spell at the club preferred to keep away from Serie A players although he did publicly admit wanting to sign Andrea Pirlo. Who wouldn’t anyway? But gone are the days when Italian stars mean legends like Pirlo. In the past few years, several high profile Serie A players turned out to be after-thoughts at Premier League clubs. Alberto Aquilani, Stefan Jovetic, Erik Lamela, Mario Balotelli, our own Juan Cuadrado and the list goes on. Equally interesting is the number of Premier League rejects shining in Serie A. Gervinho joined Roma from Arsenal and looked like a player reborn. So did Mohamed Salah when he joined Fiorentina from Chelsea and Cuadrado when he went back to Italy on loan to Juventus. Would it be a good idea to plunder the Serie A then? Each case is different and there are certainly good players in the Serie A, but apart from Juventus, no other team has made significant progress in Europe in the last few years. There are question marks over the players’ ability to perform against top teams. Also, there are just four senior home-grown players left at the club (Begovic, Cahill, Terry, Fabregas) and we are not going to fill that up with Serie A players, except of course if the player was Paul Pogba. I would welcome Pogba to the club with both arms wide but I am not yet completely sold on the sudden interest in Serie A players.

Am I the only one a little apprehensive about signing just from the Serie A? There are good players elsewhere too.

Looks like we are definitely signing a centre back. John Terry accepting a lesser role confirms it for me. Rudiger, Koulibaly, Manolas, Benatia, Bonucci, Stones, someone completely new?

I know he's joined United but that's after he was dismissed twice at Chelsea. He is forgiven for doing so imo. Not going so far as to say "One of us" anymore but the posts on here saying he did not love the club is wrong. He loved Chelsea but the love affair is over now. .

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/11671/10294708/romelu-lukaku-confirms-he-wants-to-leave-everton "I got that trophy winning mindset from Chelsea"

I don't think he has been magnificent. Would cash in on him tbh. Even if the fee is 15m ish I would take it

Already have Cesc. Club should not even think about taking him back tbh

With Mourinho at United, Pep at City, Conte at Chelsea, Klopp at Liverpool, Wenger as ever at Arsenal, next season should be a spectacle. All the above teams will also be rebuilding and I fancy Chelsea to do well for some reason. I think there is a hunger and desire to do well next season, right a wrong sort of thing

The constant pressure on the manager to succeed is never a good thing. I am not saying long-term stability or anything but the manager, whoever it may be, needs to have space to work,

LOL at the reaction on here. It is still mid May. Patience!

He is available. Criticised Bayern chasing Hummels. Also said, "If i have to leave I'll leave"

Fitting that this happens in this nightmare of a season. Someone brought up Sod's law the other day. Everything that can go wrong, went wrong in the worst possible manner If this is the end, Farewell John. Thanks for the memories

No, I was out so I couldn't catch the game but I felt sick when I heard about the red card.

The club has to bring in a striker. Clear out Falcao and Pato. I wonder if they'll bring in someone to complement Costa or a bench option to change the game. Like a Dzeko

I do not agree Roman needs to go. What Chelsea are today, we owe it to Roman. All the decisions he has taken were with the best interests of the club. He is a quiet man. Barely cracks a whisper in the media. I think he's made one public statement in over ten years here. But I also feel that if you talk to the man, you will get a real sense of how much he loves the club and how much he wants the club to succeed. The passion he shows at some games, I remember the Champions League final especially, standing next to his son. But with regards to the direction of the club, I agree to a certain extent that the people who have served the club could be treated better. John Terry's future isn't yet resolved and it's May already. Also, apart from Cech, none of the other legends have been replaced with good players. I would wait and watch what Conte does. I have real optimism with Conte. I do not care about a young or old squad but if he can bring together a team that gives its best, with every player sticking to his job and playing to his ability, I would be more than happy. It is not necessarily about the titles. That can happen gradually. But if we get the basics right next season and finish top 4 while making real improvements in our football, I'd consider it a good season. The last thing i would want is for the club to turn into a group of superstars who don't perform together. A few English players (not just to fill out the squad like City buy) would be good too.

Win. Finish the season strong

I will be sad to see him leave. Partly because it is not the right time. John is clearly still a good defender. Despite his receding recovery pace, his reading of the game is still terrific and will still do a good enough job when called upon. The situation isn't as drastic as Ivanovic, who has completely fallen off the pace and turned into a Bosingwa this season. Also partly because this is the club's worst season in years and John deserves better. I think the right call would be to add a senior centreback and pair him with Zouma as the first choice pairing with John staying on for another year. He is worth hanging on to for his presence in the dressing room and his leadership skills which money cannot buy really.

Shocking effort with the kit and the reveal. To think that ad campaign with the blue paint was the best in years. And this year we have this.

Yet to come across anything of that sort. Must be bullshit Rumors floating around that Conte is ready to sell if a major bid (50m ish) comes in for Courtois. I don't think we should sell him at any price though. He's one of the top keepers in the world. why settle for someone of lower quality when he is set to be our first choice keeper for the next generation?