Chelsea Legend 11

Chelsea think the same. They only offer 1yr renewals after 30

Impossible to disprove what you're saying here, most of this is highly subjective. I mainly was saying what the stats show me about Lukaku's game. Comparing players has become the norm with stats but truly its not the best measure because its mostly about deployment and system. Morata hasn't shown me enough to bid 78m for him... Seems like a ludicrous number for a guy who hasn't played a lot of football. His game seems polished but not effective. You said you want a guy who can win you a game and lead the line, I just don't see him as that type of player and there's no evidence to suggest he is. What happens after the dribble is also about what is happening in the game. Lukaku like to play on the shoulder of defenders and beat them with pace. A lot of the times he dribbles and opens up for a shot which is precisely how I think a striker should utilize a dribble. He does that countless times and has had loads of success with it. I wouldn't say Morata is more mature, I'd say he's more refined/polished. He has loads to learn if he wants to lead the line for a big club. You're not going to get the striker you're after mainly because those types either don't switch or go to the absolute big boys. Morata doesn't come close to fitting the bill, he too is a medium striker if you ask me. Very hard to discern what type of player Lukaku can be in a real team with a system in place. I can't say with any certainty that he's one way or another, all I know is he loves chelsea and has scored a ton of goals in the premier league which is extremely hard to do. The bust up with Williams was nothing compared to what you get with Costa and the system dictates how you play. How do you know Koeman wants his striker to prevent teams from playing out from the back? He seems like the type of manager that can definitely get his players to play his football, if he wanted Lukaku to close down more I'm sure he would.

DiMarzio is on it... say no more its on!

Sky Italia is as terrible as Sky Nigeria... real talk.

I respect yours as well, I would hope you would know how to extrapolate what the hard stats mean in the context of one's evaluation of a player. Obviously anyone whose watched them both play knows Morata has the better ball control. What the stat shows is Lukaku, perhaps through being more isolated, has improved in his ability to go at players 1 v 1. He's not exactly a donkey when in possession and also has a heightened sense of awareness as to when to release the ball to players in better positions. There is nothing clear as day that illustrates Morata has better vision. I think you're formulating opinions that suit the idea you have in your head for Morata. What I said was you can't determine how hard one works by comparing them in two different set ups. I also said Lukaku works hard on his game because he always comes back a better player than the year before. And you are correct most powerful strikers learn how to use their size later on which is what makes Lukaku even more intriguing. He's still figuring out how to make the best use of his body yet he's still scoring 20+ goals meaning he's not just relying on his physicality to score. I'm biased... Drogba to me was the most complete striker I'd ever see play. On his day he was the hardest striker to deal with. Left foot, right foot, headers, in the box or outside it, pace, power, decent technique. Inzaghi, if I remember correctly was more of a fox in the box type. Clinical inside the 18, great header of the ball but hardly scored any absolute golazo's Morata needs to score more on a regular basis for me to see him as our striker for the future. Lukaku seems like the type that will do anything to score for Chelsea and at the age of 24, I can't think of many available strikers who combine passion for the club and finishing.

Even when they bought him back it was only because Real knew they could get more for him than it would cost to buy him back. Easy transaction... The fact Juve have yet to show any interest in him is quite telling to me though

I wouldn't mind Belotti, he's def an interesting choice. He does have a smaller sample size to Lukaku though... Would be hard to spring big bucks for a guy who's had essentially one great season.

They then went and bought Higuain for 70m when they could've just negotiated a fee with Real... That's basically why they bought him back.

Who is that?

SO let me get this straight, is Lukaku a powerful striker in your mind or not? Yes I want my striker to be a goalscorer first. That is the MOST important part of a strikers make up... GOALSCORING. And you think that guy is Morata??? Based on what exactly? You have no way of knowing what Lukaku can be in our system, if he can score 25 for Everton there's no reason to believe he can't replicate that at Chelsea for years to come. Even with his limitations he's scoring boatloads of goals because he has that strikers mentality; he's always where he needs to be to score. Special gift. We're still talking about Morata, right? Not Messi. Morata makes the ball stick, but he doesn't really dribble past anyone or use slick movement to beat men. For is ENTIRE career he's averaged less than 0.8 dribble a game(On par with Defoe and Benteke). For as terrible as Lukaku is technically, he averages 1.2 dribbles a game for his career and just last season was at 1.7. Morata is probably better at keeping the ball but where is the hard evidence that he is better using it? Lukaku had 1.3 key passes a game this season...Dele Alli and Kane both had 1.4 Costa 1.2.... Morata 0.7 PLAYING FOR REAL MADRID! I think how you work is based on the assignment you're given in a specific system. Yes, strikers can improve especially in teams like Juventus and Madrid. Don't you find it odd that we are aspiring to emulate those teams and they don't want Morata? I don't know who Conte or the board prefer and to be quite frank I'm willing to go with whoever they deem is a better fit for us, I just get worked up when you shit on a guy who's scored 85 goals already just because he can't link play yet. If there is anything I've seen is Lukaku is an extremely hard worker who comes back every season better than the one before, can you say the same about Morata given what you've seen?

Yes Drogba performed internationally LATER ON IN HIS CAREER. Van Nistelrooy when he was 25! Villa when he was 28! Your sample size is hardly big enough to make a statement like Hazard and DeBruyne don't/won't improve Lukaku... Makes you sound silly when you say that. He scored 25 in the hardest competition in the world and did it with absolutely no support, why does that not resonate with you? When they play against top sides link up play is paramount! Who does Everton have to initiate counters or to link the play from defense to offense? Ross Barkley? Idriss Gueye? Tom Davies? Gareth Barry? Don't make me laugh. Football is a fcuking team game! Strikers who don't get service are ineffectual almost all the time! I figured a guy who watches as much football as you claim to would know that. Wait a minute, are you making the argument that Lukaku isn't a powerful CF? LOL... And nowhere did I say Morata is slow but come on now Lukaku is faster than him, I thought that was widely accepted as a fact? Morata may have better acceleration. You're stating the obvious, of course I'd rather a guy who can control the ball and link up play while scoring boatloads of goals but Suarez and Lewandowski aren't available. If I had my choice between a donkey who scores 25 goals or a guy with good touch and link up ability, I'd take the goals 90 times out of 100. Yes I remember Morata scoring against Madrid in the champions league too, and while that is a huge accomplishment... guess what? THAT WAS THREE SEASONS AGO! Two years ago he scored on matchday 1 and 2 and never scored again... Imagine if that were Lukaku? And yes I can point out his goal scoring record since what we are looking at is a goalscorer. You keep on citing games from 3 years ago... in 2015 Charlie Austin scored more premier league goals than Alexis Sanchez, who would you rather have? I think leaving to go on loan made him the player he is now, a guy capable of scoring 25 goals largely on his own and one of 4 players to reach 85 goals before turning 24.

Lets be real here, Diego is very hard to understand. If Atleti didn't have a transfer ban we'd be hearing how much he wants to go back to Spain. I want players who want to play for the club, Diego is a volatile personality.

Are you really looking at his international career? How often does the National team even get together? Does anyone perform at a high level in the international game? He's scored 13 goals for Belgium this year. Morata has more pace and power than Lukaku? LOL Morata gets into better positions to score? LOL It just so happens a strikers best attribute is his finishing, not his razzle dazzle dribbling.... Really? so now you can discern in ones intelligence by watching someone kick a football LOL. I know what you're alluding to but it is so subjective. Lukaku puts himself in the right position to score goals more often than than Morata and its why he scores more goals than Alvaro too. It makes YOU wonder not me. The kid is by far one of the best strikers under the age of 25 and when you compare him to Morata in terms of actual production he dwarfs him... not even close. The guy played at West Brom and Everton, Morata was dining at the best tables in Europe and still struggled to score goals. The only reason you guys prefer Morata is because he has better touch. of Morata's 15 goals 4 were scored against some team called Leganes... Lukaku is homegrown and a chelsea lad clearly he makes way more sense than Morata

Maybe I have the wrong impression of him, I thought he was more of a metronome type... Like Modric or Fab. If he is indeed more Vidal-like that would be awesome.

I'm not sure if I agree with that, in our system we need the workhorses in the middle of the pitch. I think the creativity needs to come from wide areas the wingers and wingbacks. I think our CM's need to be able to cover ground, win back possession and plug holes.

what is it about him you like? look average to me

I think that has more to do with the teams below Everton and the teams above them... The dumbest thing I've heard in a while. Ya his 25 goals mean nothing... lol

Its gonna really suck to have a striker in the team who loves the club and scores 20 or more a season... What are Chelsea thinking? Sign a guy who is 24 and has already scored 85 premier league goals and adores the club. Emenalo and Marina are morons.

we are currently sorting out deals for current players such as Courtois, Hazard and Costa, how many players do you expect us to have on 200k a week? It sets a bad precedence.... If we give Van Dijk more than twice the amount Cahill makes it makes negotiating other deals extremely difficult. I think you underestimate the importance of keeping your wage bill in check especially when we have many areas to strengthen.

you're talking pure garbage... If Liverpool offered him 200k a week he becomes their highest paid player. If Chelsea were to do that we'd have to restructure our entire wage bill, only Hazard is making 200k currently and there are others who are deserving of that and more. Stick to football manager, the real thing is out of your league.

???? Have you even bothered to READ anything? Van Dijk CHOSE Liverpool, it has nothing to do with how much was bid. You kids need to settle down a bit

Hasn't been used at Bayern. Still really young

He'd be a squad player most likely replacing Sanchez who I would love at chelsea

Ya, really liking this! Veteran who is a leader and played at and won at the highest level. We need more of these personalities in the dressing room, guys who command respect. From a footballing perspective this is also great! He is still deadly down the flank and should be able to play at a high level if he's used sparingly. At Juve this year he played in 15 games in Serie A and 11 in the Champions League, thats the kind of workload I expect for him to function at a high level. Its on a free! We would be morons not to take a stab at him...

Agreed