Leif

His biography really doesn't read like something a 'normal' average person couldn't easily eclipse. What positive has he contributed to earth? You don't think a family could contribute more than he has in his lifetime by making one concerted effort for just a year? And if he wouldn't acknowledge a 'lesser accomplished' person's presence, he's a cockroach still.

Also, with the way they're throwing money around, the only place we should shop Matic is at AC Milan. 35+m from them easy, which is a solid figure for him.

And there's always the next Ozil, a sublime alternative to Fabregas

Plenty midfielders who're either available clearly, or not so firmly established that a bid wouldn't interest their club; and they'd improve our midfield - Fabinho (United took negotiations far enough seemingly; Monaco are clearly willing to sell.) Kovacic (further down the pecking order after Madrid continue to bloat their midfield with playmakers; he must go now) N. Keita (if Liverpool can be in negotiations for him, so can we) Renato Sanches (being loaned out for a year if Bayern's CEO has his way) Verratti (wants to leave; will do within a year) Seri (just about the most underrated midfielder in the top 5 leagues; cheap as chips for any club outside England) Options. There's lots of options. All of which make Bakayoko look like Lukaku playing in midfield.

#nextKaka

Even James Milner created more chances than Walker last season - best in the league?At sprinting?

Good timing for this stat to be published

They've been linked to Fabinho - 5x the player from the same team - all season; of course they'll say Bakayoko is average - he is in that context. He doesn't excel in any area. Expect him to reach Ramires's status and no higher.

Trippier, Walker's back-up, is literally better. Walker's essentially Abate - pace pace pace, a little strength, but just pace and a want to drive forward. Tripper goes forward with more purpose and recovers quicker (mentally) than Walker. It's like Bosingwa vs. Ferreira. And Azpilicueta is better than both.

Given our fetish for Rudiger-tier players, here's our ideal Fabregas replacement!

So that's it confirmed; pictures of him at Milan, waving, smiling, looking a way he's never looked at Juve. Apparently his family grew up supporting AC. They're instantly the 2nd best team in Italy ahead of Roma/Napoli now. Juventus have only 3 leaders left, Buffon, Barzagli, Chiellini - but with Buffon going next season, and the latter hardly playing, they've just about lost their magic. Never wanted Allegri here. Never understood why Juventus would make the daft move of bringing him in. Now he's pushed out one of their best players and entertained bids for all their other elite signings (or allowing others to leave, like Alves, who simply didn't believe in the man.) Good times to be a Serie A slut.

I doubt we'll use him, but, Pasalic is in our squad, and in the past 2 years been a solid squad player for 2 top-ish teams. I can't imagine Chalobah being useful for Milan or Monaco (he was useless for Napoli.) They're the same age, no less. He (Chalobah) offers a bit of everything, but just a bit isn't near enough. Under patient guidance, Pasalic would be one of the higher goalscoring midfielders in the league. One offers something most players in his position can't, the other doesn't.

It's him or Mendy - both of them should be coming to Chelsea/City. If not, 100m bomb on Bertrand.

I don't like Courtois much, my reasons are petty, but I recognise his importance to the team, and I believe he should be made captain. Simply because I think it'd make him raise his level, & suddenly feel bonded to/responsible for the club. You don't need to give Azpilicueta or David Luiz an armband for them to lead - they'll be leaders regardless. If anything, it reassures those players, that they're surrounded by other quality who can lift the burden. Lampard lead as much as Terry did while the latter had the armband; Drogba lead as much as if not more than both. For a boy to become a man he needs a radical & significant change of some kind. This would be his.

Juventus were happy to have him leave. Real Madrid are happy to have him leave. He is not rated highly by either. Those are simply 2 clubs who know how to make money. We don't know if Conte values him or not, truly. He's played players before he doesn't 'value' compared to his undroppables. And then of course, Manchester United valued him so highly, that they were happy to walk away and sign Lukaku. He isn't a player who improves a top side, at all.

Well, fools worship Matic, and fools worship Rudiger. So is that to say, fools worship Morata?

You think you've seen more of Morata than he has?

Any doubt about it should be no. No CL finalists since 2012 would touch who we're bringing in.

That's a catch-22.

It's like selling Hazard for 60m & buying Robben for 70m.

Morata could score half the amount of goals Lukaku would, but he'd chip in with a decent amount of assists for a striker, and, the team would simply be more fluid and beautiful. You may enjoy wins, but nobody would 'enjoy' playing with Lukaku. It'll be rewarding at the end of games when he's scored, but, the process won't be pretty.

Rudiger was carried by Fazio & Manolas last season no different from how Terry, Luiz & Azpi have done their best in carrying Cahill. In order, Roma's 'best' defenders were: Fazio Emerson Florenzi Manolas Rudiger/Juan Jesus To consider players great, just because they played their part, is lunacy. By that logic, Kalou was elite, since he played in the Champions League Final & contributed in games beforehand.