Strike

I disagree. It's not totally unrealistic to think that the clubs can negotiate a buy-back clause during a sale

Chelsea have the goalkeeping position locked for say 4-5 years with Cech. Courtois would give 15, so it's a stupid long-term idea to sell him but If the club is unwilling to replace Cech now, they might as well sell Courtois with a buy-back option because as you said, at one point Chelsea will want Courtois back 100%. I don't agree that it doesn't make sense for a club to try and get Courtois with a buy-back clause included. The club will be getting one of the best keepers in the world and worst case, if Chelsea do take him back down the line, they'll reinvest in another goalkeeper.

The fee will drop but I don't think the fee will come down to a paltry amount like 5million with a buy-back clause like you're assuming. Vela wasn't an elite level talent and he went for 6mil with a 4mil buy-back clause. why did Sociedad agree to that? and atm, Courtois is one of the top keepers in Europe. i think clubs will look to invest in him even if there's a buy-back clause. it may not be Atletico but Courtois will seriously upgrade the GK position in most clubs. Ofcourse, we won't get 25-30 for him then but 5mil is a loss on the original fee paid to Genk or somewhere thereabout, so i can't see that number ever being thrown around with regards to Courtois, even with a buyback clause

I know it will drop but I doubt it will be something like 5mil. Arsenal managed to include a buy-back clause in the deal that took Fabregas to Barcelona so you can't definitively say that a buy-back clause will bring down a player's price so drastically anyway, these are finer points of a negotiation. i won't claim that it will work out that way but i feel clubs would look into the possibility of getting Courtois even with a buy-back clause

Put in a shocker against Hull. Dispossessed comically for the Hull goal and missed a sitter at the other end.

firstly Bleacherreport? ha....and Salah ? hahaha

Sell him with a cheap buy-back clause (like Arsenal with Vela). Cech is 31 so there's still a few good years left in him. Atletico or any club should accept a buyback clause because they'll be getting a quality keeper in Courtois

Yes. he's a cheap and realistic option. He was going for 10-15 million in the summer. The rest of the quality options are unlikely to leave, especially in January. There is also the possibility the club will not sign anyone in January and instead reinforce the midfield at the end of the season.

de Rossi, Alonso too unrealistic. Gundogan, Witsel too expensive. Khedira out injured. I'm warming up to the idea of Cabaye now

7 games this month. should win atleast 5 and look to get max out of Arsenal and Liverpool. Think we could be top by January if we grind out few wins because Arsenal will drop a fair few points

He's underperformed so far. A few sparks in some games but he should be doing a lot better I think he could be a big-game player for us. He has that unpredictability and flair about him. but so far he's bottled it in the big games this season

Really good in attack but also, he worked his socks off in this game.

Great performance from him. Up against a full-back like Shaw too.

Agree. Bertrand is under-utilised. Can't quite get my head around Azpilicueta getting a 5-game run at LB. He's been okay in some of those games but surely Cole or Bertrand should be taking that place back.

The squad was stacked with 25 international level players in the summer. There's the biggest indicator that youth won't be integrated very easily into the team here. Some of the youth players over the years didn't turn out so well even outside Chelsea (most of Arnesen's young signings) but now the quality is hardly an argument. Last year for example, Nathan Ake got a bit of first team football and he more than held his own. I remember he had a good game against Everton at the end of the season. Even got 90 minutes against Rubin Kazan and Middlesbrough in the cups. Not even a sniff of first team football now

it is free at the moment but eventually they will start charging i guess. Its really good though. Can rewind, fast-forward between games etc

even the weekend isn't live.

next few chelsea games are not aired in India. an alternative to watch the games. starsports(dot)com has live streaming on its site

Apart from the 3-0 November blip under Carlo, can't remember the last time we slipped up against Sunderland

Better not draw conclusions over one game but this was a good win. Especially after a stupid start

should earn a new contract

He's still got it

the urgency of the team helped. the ball was being hoofed up to him many times and he latched on to it more often than not.

Worked his socks off. Different player this year. As Tomo said, the rotation is helping a lot