Leif

Compare the long term vision - De Bruyne, Silva, Gabriel Jesus, Sane; Some of the best players in Europe for the next 10 years. Firepower on top of firepower. Who do Chelsea have secured, set to be among the best players in Europe for the next 10 years? Maybe Christensen, who doesn't look like being integrated, unlike City's talent. No foresight. No impressive plans. While they're targeting players to improve their XI in the long run and short term, we target players to bloat our bench for the short term, and target players who're no better than ones we already have for the XI. Where is our Fabregas replacement? Where is our Hazard back up? Who compliments Hazard with elite ability on the opposite wing? Where are our young players? Why are our 2nd & 3rd choice right-backs Moses & Pedro? Why do we continue to hold onto Willian, Cahill, where it only takes 1 bad season for Man City to phase out the crap? (Mangala, Bony, Nasri, Hart.) Our boards aren't in the same league.

Signing the #1 prospect when it comes to wingers tends to justify a break. I don't think Man City's board has their value determined by how quickly they tie up their signings, anyway. When ever has getting the job done 'fastest' been synonymous with 'best' or 'great quality'?

Christensen's more Puyol where Rudiger's more Vermaelen.

I really still don't see how he fits, unless we go back to 4 defenders. He played more games at right back than centre back last season, and looked bad the few times he was in a 3 man defence. He certainly is no wing back. And, like Michy, fans appreciated him for his social media posts, not what he did on the pitch.

Roma fans have been even more confident he'll be signing for us than we are.

I'll add that Juventus are one of the most open teams when a player is leaving - they don't tend to hide it. If anything, they get the player out early so they can reinvest the profits. They're as big if not bigger than we are, and our desire to announce players only after the Nike deal was announced would probably be wrestled with by them, who'd like their own fans to have a clear picture of what's going on. They're very engaging with their fans. Little but big things too like being spotted in London, or Chelsea negotiators being spotted abroad - it hasn't happened. But we've seen Bakayoko, Rudiger (I think?), Lukaku all in and around Stamford Bridge lately. I've no doubt we bid, and made a lot of progress, but, it's tricky for Juve. There's nobody equal to Sandro they could bring in - only 'potential' talent. They don't need a mega injection of funds either, since they lack in 0 positions (their youth are the best in Europe atm, they'll surely have a fresh defence in 3-5 years, most of which are from the academy.) It makes more sense for them to retain than sell for now, and more sense for us to diversify our options and give up once something like this drags on too long. I'm sure Conte himself has made it clear he'd like his players brought in nice and early. He's always had an emphasis on the team, and the bonding experience. It's hard to focus on either when a player's still not assured to be coming here. *Also, let's not forget (I did); they just lost Dani Alves. Their full backs have been as much an attacking outlet as anyone in the team. To lose both would mean a major reshuffle in tactics, as well as borderline panic buys. No duo they could bring in would offer what a Dani Alves/Alex Sandro combo does. But if they keep one of them, things barely need to change. (Based on a couple seasons ago, I'd replace Alves with Carvajal, but I doubt Juventus are going to make spending that big a habit.)

Sometimes when I'm having a bad day, I just remember this beautiful athlete exists, and even plays for us. On an unrelated note, for all the 'he could score more' comments which've also come from myself, it's surprising to see (according to Wiki) the stats saying he generally averages a goal every 3 games. For a striker, that's promising, if not only slightly above average, but for a winger, who else scores that much? I can think of Robben so far.* Add Reus, Bale & Ronaldo. Not bad company. I don't think we'll ever have nor ever have had such prolific wingers in the game.

I don't think he's coming either. Nor do I think he's a top top signing. He's better than 95% of full backs in the current game, yes, he is certainly balanced, but full backs aren't that great after 30yrs old bar the odd exceptions, and that gives him about 4 more top years only. For something like 60m+ or more, that doesn't make the most sense. I know we can pay it, but it's depressing to pay so much for so little time. All aboard the Alex Telles boat.

At least we're firmly established as THE blue team. Who comes to mind in Europe when you talk about blue football kits? I struggle to come up with anyone. And it's partly because their blue kits have a bit of white here, a bit of yellow there, a bit of black on this bit. We're just blue. Who else is? Nobody. I'm fine with minimalism, as long as it doesn't carry over into our trophy case.* *Shit, I forgot Napoli, but they've got an ugly smack of red in the middle of their top.

Last time we won the league, the board decided we needed no major moves. This time after winning the league, the board seemingly decide we need no major moves. Might just be the worst board in the Premier League when it comes to recruitment policies. Man City do what we used to, and are supposed to still do. Now our transfers are like Tottenham's before they became more than a mid-table club.

The trend of 'this player has agreed personal terms - it's all up to the clubs now' only came about strong 2 or so seasons ago. One, then two, then a hundred journalists copied eachother after realising this is a way to keep their name relevant without fully putting their name on the line by saying 'this player will definitely be joining this club'. Football journalists lie more than lawyers. There's no repercussions though so it'll continue.

^^ Don't forget, around 100m of our projected profit(?) each season goes just to player wages alone. Other costs like marketing & maintenance of the stadium follow surely, unless Nike take entire control of marketing (I'd let them.) But still. 200m-300m is enough to designate a fraction of that towards an established elite player.

Serie A is not weaker than the Premier League, at all. Maybe it was 3 seasons or so ago. La Liga, Serie A, Premier League, Bundesliga, Ligue 1. There's no nuance to the game here anymore; if you can score against Italian defences you'll rip English ones to shreds. And this is before the top teams in Italy have their own stadiums. This is before they get the obscene TV money the English teams get. The Premier League's almost dead, and it's being replaced by a lookalike zombie. Shining here means nothing, now. It's no coincidence the likes of Aguero & Suarez dominated over here, yet only ever been the 5th or even 10th best player in Spain. Add Costa to that too. Went from being something like the 15th best player in La Liga to a top 3 player in the Premier League - and it's not like he's improved as player - he hasn't. Even Bale ripped England up, only to be a slightly above average player over in Spain. Elite forwards look at the lack of actual football over here and lick their lips. + Sanchez, too*. If Jamie Vardy & Mahrez can come out of nowhere & both end a season as top 5 scorers, Belotti can do so, with ease. *Got another one - Fabregas went from a 'meh' player in Spain, to truly being one of the top 5 players in the Premier League, this following his decline.

We don't buy the best rising stars anymore, we buy their cheaper teammates. Who does he play beside? Ilsanker & Demme? Fully expect to be interested in them.

How is it a bargain getting a player who can't proceed past Germany's B/C teams? Why on earth aren't we targeting elite players?

Rudiger himself looks baffled that this has happened. Ask him 'Why do you think Chelsea were after you?' and no doubt, the most likely answer would be 'I don't know' followed by a nervous smile.

What are his good traits, other than ambitious passing? I feel like his heading, tackling, awareness, fitness & discipline are under par.

It is a joke. He's more talented than players currently going for 35m+ He's a showman. A top 5 dribbler in Europe (just a couple Spanish players are better, I'd put top 3 but i'm not that ballsy). He has the vision which only Iniesta was renowned for. We've had the mega talented Boga, and Musonda's made him look like a schoolboy in comparison. He'd truly slice teams open again and again if he was just thrown straight into our XI. He has no defending bones in his body, but you don't need to when he creates so much. A good player to liken him to would be David Silva in that regard.

Moses. Elite technique.

How on earth can a manager have any influence over a player consistently making dumb decisions? It's all up to the player; it's not like a manager made Messi great, Terry great, Hazard great, Luiz great. They made themselves great. Rudiger has only regressed, every single year, each season becoming less impressive than the last. He's shown 0 signs that he's going to improve any time soon. Players don't all share a magical commonality being that they always have room to grow and more potential to fill. Sometimes, even when you're 'young', you're just not that good, and aren't going to be. That's not to say he'll outright fail. He does have beef on him, which is all the Premier League needs now; well strength and pace.

You write that like you were in the minority welcoming Conte here.

It's certainly better to leave on top, than fail in the future due to lack of backing from the board, then get the blame put on your shoulders for not making sweet lemonade out of stale lemons.

That sounds a bit bias. If you want to get stabbed, shouted at, judged, or crushed, go to London. If you want to see beautiful architecture, go to a city with more opera houses than London has vegan burger shops, and eat an incredible cuisine, you go to Turin. If you want to be a 'tourist', yeah, go to London. If you don't want to be incredibly annoying, posting everything you see on Instagram, and instead actually connecting with locals, you go anywhere in Italy.

If we sell him I go from loving the club to being a casual fan.

I respect Chelsea, I respect my wife, but leaving the beautiful (old) lady for us makes no sense. Juventus have a far better track record in recent years both domestically & in Europe; it's not like he's underpaid, or going to be working with Conte long term (until we're proven otherwise by the board). And, if he's willing to leave Juve so soon, perhaps once Marcelo's suddenly dropping in form, he'll jump to Madrid - they've always liked him. In the end it really makes most sense to stay. And, Turin's one of the most bland cities in Italy, yet it still trumps 90% of Britain for beauty, especially London. (This idea that London's a great place to live is a dying idea IMO - unfortunately the one place we always ripped, Manchester, seems to be retaining more of its beauty in terms of architecture & green spaces. A trip to London for the night to see a performance etc. is very doable too.)