BlueLyon

I suggested him quite a while ago that he and Bertrand would be only two english players we could buy and would offer something good. Not as wingback, but as option for midfield or wings, covering two areas. And now he has proven as good wingback too, would be a very wise buy. But I dont think there is any chance of him coming.

I realy wonder what will happen to our defense this season. Cahill on paper is weak link, but still put in some very good performances in crucial games, he is our captain now and only english starter.

Water is wet

Clubs dont want to pay because of his character. He is a loose cannon. Quality wise, worse players have been sold for more. In today market, he is definately worth at least 40m. Pickford was sold for 30m ffs. But we will be forced to sell for less, because not many offers will come up due to his character and since Conte said he doesnt want him and Costa then said he played last game for chelsea, we must sell him for whatever someone offers.

Who reported first that chelsea was interested in Sandro; republica or Marotta in that interview? If Rebublica was first and it turned to be true, then they might be right about agreement too.

Yes but our board pre 2012 was much much better. Current barca board is piss, their fans absolutely hate it. Only reason they are still doing well is because of MSN and even that is slowly declining. Real board was also clueless for a long time. Ancelotti connected few dots, but Zidane made the full difference because he is one of rare people Perez listens to. Pep Barca was also influenced by Guardiola. What is key to success is board and manager working together. Manager cant just have free hands and order to buy whoever he wants, but the board cant give manager just about any player they decide either. Conclussion must come from both sides. At current rate, we will be winning here and there, but what we need is consistency. Stability. I think Conte can give it to us if he stays next 3 years I think. I would not oppose to board making decisions, but this board is far from perfect. Signing Eden, Azpi, Kante,...doesnt give the excuse for several "flops" we had with Falcao, Pato, Baba, Salah, Cuadrado, Djilobodji, Hector,...list goes on, not to mention number of players that we wanted and missed.

Yup. He can play on both sides, it will be interesting to see how he does in Monaco. They also have Traore on right and Jorge on left, so they are pretty much packed if Sidibe or Mendy leave. Question is if they can up their level.

Because in the middle, he has some backup, on sides he doesnt. He has been brilliant this season, but he is still not the most reliable CB per se. He is good technical, his attacking side was never a question. Its the defending. And for a ball playing CB, middle of back three is best spot. Obviously Terry is not best anymore, but when Luiz was moved to left side to give Terry spot in middle, he was much less comfortable than usualy.

If we have 30m for backup keeper, then our whole budget would have to be 500m lol. Board wont pay Tibo the wages he demands, we will sell him and buy Rico instead

haha yes my bad.

Shame...would be realy nice addition if he came here.

City wants him too...

Indeed. But Im sure they will still play alot if we go with wingbacks.

Nice team, but Luiz on right side is not option, and I wouldnt mind simply keeping Pedro instead of James, unless we have 70m too much in the bank. There will be better options to improve that RW in future (if we change the formation, then maybe James would fit nicely tho).

I realy like Monaco scouting team, they also got very promising LB from Lyon.

Nothing to do with performances, more like personal preference. I always liked Real, since Zidane was one of my favourite players, but I kind of stopped liking them once they signed Ronaldo, Im not a fan of his style and character. Is he one of two best players in last decade? Yes. That doesnt mean I would have him in my team. Having team of players I like is more important than results. After all I started following chelsea because of Lamps, Terry, Didi, Carvalho,... We were never celebrity club, lets stay that way.

I said that a while ago that it seems odd we are linked only with LBs and not RBs since Moses is worse than Alonso. And we are linked with CBs while we are good there. All that points out we might indeed play 4 at the back next season, because in that case we dont need RB, Azpi is brilliant, but we need LB. Regarding Sandro; “Chelsea made a very big offer for Alex Sandro,” Marotta confirmed. “We said no, but today players are masters of their own destiny. " Seems juve doesnt want to sell, but Sandro wants to go. Im getting my hopes up here

Even if he was open to a move, we would be biggest idiots to spend 100m+ on 32 year old when our team isnt complete and by the time it will be, Ronaldo will retire. There is zero sense to even consider him, nevermind he is fantastic goalscorer, but I wouldnt have him in his prime, nor now. Not my type of player.

Im still not over the fact we didnt sign Modric back then, if we get Verratti, all would be forgotten. But it will remain a dream I think.

Not sure why but there is plenty of talk Allegri wants De Sciglio. Juve fans are furious, because appartently he would be starter and he isnt even good player. Dont forget Juve also has Spinazzola on loan who is in great form, so I hear. If we pay the ridiculous fee of 50m for fullback (which is totaly worth for Sandro), I honestly dont see why they wouldnt sell. And there are players who would like to play for Chelsea, albeit in very small numbers. Just maybe Sandro is one. If we pull this one off, would be realy realy good day.

Good signing, he can sit on bench whole season and when picked, puts in good performance. On the other hand, he is 35 and not hg, meaning we will go through this process again soon.

Come on, thats like saying we dont need Pedro because we have Boga. These young players have to show their ability first on senior level. I agree we treat youth like product, money makers, and we dont give them enough trust, but I dont think there was one absolutely top class potential player in our ranks since Terry. Just because they are cutting it in youth levels, doesnt mean they will be great at chelsea, but its our fault we dont give them playtime. Many get playtime in lower leagues or foreign leagues with very little success. It would take serious work rate to get less talented player into quality starter for us, however that aint happening because we fill them with money, too much money. And we are not only team. Take a look at barca; how many great talents they had who flopped recently? Xavi, Iniesta, Messi arent great because they got chance, they are great because they are fantastic players. Terry was the same. Who from our ranks would get into our senior squad and improve us massively? Maybe Bertrand. Mceachran flopped on loans, Solanke didnt perform well either, then you have Boga, Chalobah, Feruz,...neither lightened the darkness on their loans, but was rather average or didnt get to play. They need to gain their play time, you dont just give it to them. RLC got quite a few chances, but was rather average. I do like the look of Baker, he got potential and had great loan, now he deserves to get a look by Conte. But overall, our youth is generaly well overhyped. They destroy everything on youth levels indeed, but rarely get some serious performances on senior level, be it here or elsewhere. I never understood why people hype youth so much tho. Most of young players who are brilliant get to first team quickly or get loaned, they dont stay in youth departments. Look at Messi, Mbappe, Lahm. Lahm for example was loaned to stuttgart where he performed well, he didnt just slot in bayern 11. Then he returned after good spell. With our players, almost no one shows anything special on loan, and suddenly we wasted them. If you are good, you are good and you play. The problem might be the clubs we loan to. Vitesse isnt club where you can evaluate their progress. It should be premier league, french league if we talk about very talented players. If someone who is killing it in youth, cant get play time in championship, how the hell will he get it in chelsea or even in PL side. Sad truth is most of our players arent as talented as hyped, add money into mix and you get bleak results. Terry was simply put cleaning toilets at SB, RLC is driving around in mercedes, Ferrari or whatever car and lives in expensive apartment. Mbappe is being driven by his mom to training. Thats the difference.

At least we are not the only ones in media circus; papers claim Ronaldo decided to leave Real Madrid this summer

If we can get players like Ngolo for 30m, Im all for it. No need to pay 90m to get Pogba. But when such players arent available, our club starts looking for cheaper alternatives and it ends with still paying alot like 30m for decent player instead of paying 50m for top one that would solve that position for next few years. Very annoying. However I think when we DO decide to pay bit more, we always end up with flop. We always did bad with superstars, thats why I think we should avoid most of them. But we were also great in buying quality players who were less known ala Essien, Drogba...but our policy today is dont overspend for such players because they are not worth it yet? At least thats the expression I get from recent summer windows and media.

Seems like both are done. If not, then with most other main available targets linked or sold elsewhere, other two options are that we are targeting the very best that media doesnt know about or we are missing on main targets and will again settle for cheaper alternatives in august. If we are doing business then honestly I dont care when we announce them. I dont know why people feel the impatience. But with reports going on, I wonder IF we are doing any serious business at all, that is definately concerning then. Juve didnt sign anyone yet, neither did Barca or Real, but its clear they are targeting players and they stated it multiple times. I wish our club would show some transparency.