Chelsea Legend 11

Yes the summer is in early stages but our track record hasn't been anywhere near good when it comes to signing a marquee player. That's the main point of frustration... Costa and Fabregas came off the backs of player sales not a huge investment from the owner. Every time our name gets mentioned with a marquee target we lose out... And now if the rumours are true, the manager is just as frustrated.

Such a shame too, to my amateur eyes an investment of around 180m would be enough to lock us in as a top 4 team in Europe... I know it sounds daft 180m but one marquee signing, a couple of 40m players and one for the future and I think we can take a run at Europe. If we keep with this trajectory City, Tots and Utd will see themselves clear...

the last two summers really.

Am I the only one who thinks the club have some sort of mandate in place on transfer fees? We haven't gone over 33m since the Torres move in january 2011.

When Hazard was signed he announced he was coming weeks before he was in front of any shirt. Its a bullshit claim... You don't need the Nike deal to announce player signings

Sounds like something a kid made up like posting with a new shirt helps make a deal more official.

I'm questioning that. Why would he be pissed off if he knows deals are done and are just waiting on the Nike money? Seems kinda silly to wait on 60m when you acquired over 200m in player sales and winnings.

about as close to bang on as any journo out there. Not 100% but definitely 70.

But most of our transfers have proven to be extremely good and in some cases great. I would say the players we have brought in over the years has been the best in the prem by some distance

I seriously doubt they are willing to pay 100% tax on him

See for me I think lukaku AND Aubameyang forge a near perfect partnership in a two striker system. Beyond that I think that's about as close to a plan A and plan B as you can find.

to this...

This rarely happened and was mostly designed to kill a game. Most of what you're talking about here is offense, but the game is played at both ends. Of course the RW can drift inside, I don't know any winger that is told strictly to stay out wide anymore. The problem is when we are not in possession you need someone to help Moses and get after the winger or FB. Pedro was hugely effective in this capacity not to mention the guy who would first release when we want to counter attack. I just don't buy that we are interested in James when our game is more about speed and incisiveness.

As a Hazard replacement? nah... As a Hazard place holder? sure!

to the best of my knowledge we don't play 3-5-2 and I fail to see how we will this season with James. Also, in our current system the only player in a free role in Hazard, the right winger has loads of responsibility. We would never leave Moses that exposed on the right. Kante and Bakayoko I see as ball retrievers and solidity in the middle, similar to how the.... spurs deployed Dembele and Wanyama. You didn't get a ton of creativity but the ball retention was relentless.

Do people here really want James or is it just due to the fact we haven't acquired anyone? Where the hell is he gonna play???

I'm not sure what's actually going on but I do believe we will have to break our previous transfer record(50m) at least three times this window in order to improve and in some cases to maintain the status quo. Seems very strange the last few years, we haven't spent more than 33m for a player. I agree with you though if this is some sort of restriction, I have no doubt the club have good reason.

You see the glass half empty, I see it half full...

100% This is precisely what I feel Conte is trying to get across but some people seem to think the best way to better a 93 pt season is to have attack minded players in the centre of the pitch.... it's so obvious that the teams that do well in world football have the best creative options in wide areas. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I wonder when Chelsea supporters are gonna accept the fact we don't play possession based football? We play on the counter, with bakayoko and Kante we will be formidable in winning the ball back and transitioning into attack quickly. It's precisely what Monaco did with incredible success last season with Tiemoue central in it. In my opinion I think you need workers who can cover a lot of ground in the midfield. The most important area on the pitch id like to see us add quality is at wingback. The middle of the pitch is often way too congested to allow for creativity to flow. Out wide the hope is we can create mismatches and pull the defenders into positions they aren't comfortable. I will only get worried about our signings if we don't sign an influential wb/fb/w

Di Marzio is on it which makes it legit.

Lets be real here you had no point. You mentioned that he wanted a free pass for the club in relation to how much he loves the club.... the two aren't even closely related.

Stole my thunder.

Oh so you're still a little butt hurt over that are you? Trust me you'll get over it when he's banging them in regularly

hahahaha I seriously DOUBT you've watched any of these guys play extensively, if you have you need to get outside and get a life. Look at the club's track record when it comes to spotting talent... I have no doubt they know what we need and will bring it to the club. Edit: and most of the names you've mentioned here don't even play the same role in their team as Bakayoko has for Monaco. To the best of my knowledge Bakayoko is our alternative to Matic in our system.