Leif

Shit journalists wow. You'd think they'd try and get some gossip for their papers but no.

30 MINUTES LONG!? Tissues at the ready.

Today's rumour is that Gala are willing to pay £20m+ for him. Mikel doesn't want to leave and we're not actively pushing to sell him, but agents are doing everything they can to make a deal go through.

I think this is the biggest gathering of journalists for a PC i've ever seen.

Ever since Roman bought us our strikers have not been consistently prolific. They've always been relied upon to bring much more to the team. It's not down to tactics, but just a mentality which has been instilled at the club. Everyone helps everyone. There's no place for selfish or glory players. Lew, Gomez, whoever - they all need to be scoring goals to contribute well. Lew seems to have this new 'thing' around him that he's a playmaker - defender - goalkeeper - as well as a striker, so if he's not scoring he can add to the team anyway. I disagree. He's only adding to the team when it comes to a quick pass then running forward to receive the ball back and shooting. That's this link-up play people talk about. A quick 'give and go'. Basically what Torres used to do loads at Liverpool. Aside from that and scoring, there's not much else to note. Cavani, as I've made a point of many times, does far much more for the team than focus on just scoring. He will get Hazard, Mata etc. scoring more; he will defend our set pieces; he will chase the ball down whenever it's near him; he will always be an indirect and direct free-kick threat; and he's not going to pussy out from taking a penalty like Lew did in the CL final. He has nerve. Contrary to what seems to be becoming a popular opinion, Cavani for any amount of money Roman can pay >>> Lew for £20m-ish. I'd rather have the very best for the very top price than 'nearly the best but not quite' for a more 'reasonable' fee. Everything about him just screams 'South American Drogba' - only more clinical with a higher work rate. How could you not want that regardless of fee?

He really impressed me considering his age and small frame vs. that physical Belgium side the other night. He fluffed one shot which shoulda been a goal but he was one of the Serbia players trying to make things happen.

Hopefully an away trip to the Emirates. Always nice to start the season with an easy 3 points.

He'd be a good super-sub and that is it.

He does nothing aside from hit tap-ins. Nothing. Apart from breathe and the occasional jog and the other basic body functions. This isn't even an exaggeration. Unless you want to include 10 passes a game.

lol no please no seriously no.

I'm in the Demba Ba thread discussing Demba Ba. I'm not discussing Torres

Surely we should actually see him under a proper good manager before discussing whether he should leave or not..

69% passing accuracy, 1 tackle, 1 shot.

Just suffered an injury which was first thought to force him to retire. He's recovering in Greece. Either Schalke sell him for a great fee and Liverpool are buying a player already in pieces, or Liverpool see the injury, don't buy him, he recovers with Schalke and we're not affected in the slightest.

I think this has far too much pace and 'sources' saying it's pretty much a done deal with conviction for it to be false. Kinda like how almost every single outlet reported the Jose deal was done well in advance of it actually being announced officially. I think the same thing is happening here. Far more concrete than any De Rossi, Boateng, Sneijder, whoever really, rumours.

I think it'd take him time to adjust to a central role again. I believe it's his preferred position, but by 'central' I do mean in a 4-3-3 or 4-4-2; not as deep as he'd play in a 4-2-3-1. I'm not sure how he'd adapt to such a deep role. I have faith that he'll be able to do it though with Jose's guidance. He's not had many if any major injuries in recent times so he'll still be that steel powerhouse, so any lack of tackling or interception ability should in theory be made up for with brute force and tenacity in his hassling of opponents. I've mentioned this comparison before and it does sound odd considering Boateng has played far further forward, but his qualities really are just like Essien of old - only not as refined, consistent or simply as good - which is understandable since Essien is one of the G.O.A.T box-to-box midfielders.

After talks with our Chelsea reps today his agent is now off to Portugal where Jose currently is to speak directly with him to get an understanding of what Boateng's role would be here if he were to sign.

Him coming back would support that rumour of Ivanovic leaving. Just like Ivanovic he plays both centre back and right back. Difference is he's younger, more pace (slightly, I think) and a far lower wage.

I'm confident that regardless whether the club do or don't actually want him that his wage demands will be too high. The club would probably want to spend £60k per week on him at most but he'll likely demand something more like £70k - £85k, especially when you consider the fact we are indeed Chelsea and have had a record of overpaying players in the past. I remember he had a long contract dispute with Milan last season (I think). He was on around £40k a week and was demanding close to £80k a week. The proposal was rejected by Milan.

I acted more excited about this signing than Hazard's when it was announced I remember I expected a slightly better and more consistent impact, and I really thought he'd play a handful of games as a striker, but I think he's done exactly what someone of his experience should have done here. He can only become a better play under Mourinho. Maybe close to the calibre of Callejon, who knows.

Like most papers, the story won't be on the website until tomorrow. People often get headlines etc. the night before they're printed and that's probably the case here. It happens every single day.

Might not sleep until his press conference on Monday. I'm that excited just to see him, nevermind Cavani.

I have a huge smile on my face right now

I think if we even go for the 60,000 seater we'll have trouble filling it unless ticket prices are drastically dropped and it's easier getting to the stadium. I'm tired of SB being full of tourists and old people with 0 vocal support.

Just switch around some names. Take out Baines, add Shaw etc. Written a long time ago. Still stand by this (well, most of it.)