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Tbh, Sevilla selling Kounde for £42m in this market would be berserk from their POV.

If we get Kounde for £42m, then great business but what is the catch? Did they not reject a similar bid including Zouma in the deal few weeks ago? They were holding out for release clause too. With bonuses does the deal rise to possibly near £60m, because I would like to know what has convinced them into giving in for the reported fee which is a lot less.

Surprised at the negative reactions. I really like it.

Kovacic deserves a lot of praise for the first goal. Seems to have gone unnoticed, the role he played. He dictated that whole move. Swiftly turned away from Martinelli, which is a trademark move of his before passing it into Lukaku and receiving the ball back from Lukaku and laid a superb weighted ball to James who passed it into Lukaku.

Genuinely surprised about this. He is criticized for his creativity. He laid the ball of crisply for James. That is as good as a pass you can receive. There have been many moments where players maybe pass the ball with a bit too much force. Just watching the highlights again and the pass was excellent. Think he deserves more praise.

Well the ball for Lukaku was good awareness and should have been another assist, however Leno made a great save.

Wow. Totally bossed that game. From defence to attack. Lukaku literally fits in the missing piece of the puzzle. Pace, power, everything. He is going to scare the life out of the opposition this season. Mount very good too. Should have too assists to his name really, bar a top class save from Leno. James top class too. Goal and assist. He is criticised for his productivity in the final third, but good to see he is working on that. What a finish. I was worried when I saw Alonso in the team, however he held his own. It is amazing how Tuchel has transformed our defence. Christensen was so good out there. Literally not one bad thing to say about the performance. The squad depth is so good too. Good to see us end our mini-hoodoo against the Gooners too.

Sensational. Bullied that Arsenal defence. Top performance. He literally is going to scare the life out of opposition defences this season.

They probably won every game last season when they went 1-0 behind when they were away from home, which was frequent, so wouldn't laugh until the final whistle is blown.

Been very solid and looked very good on an offensive basis too.

The fact that Ralph has instantly started him first two Southampton games shows how talented he is. Walker-Peters was one of their better players last season, bar Ings and Ward-Prowse and he is has displaced him. Only 18 too. I mean I just give praise to the work of the academy.

We have done this before. quite a few times actually......

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/12381101/Chelsea-transfer-news-tammy-abraham-and-michy-batshuayi-close-to-stamford-bridge-exits Why does it say on the headline, that Chelsea 'need to sell'. It is good that we are balancing our spending with our outgoings, but it does surprise me that are net spend will not likely be high, considering that we won the UCL. Is the money there to spend or we just have a very good squad so they feel major money spending is not needed. Because I don't see how we need to sell, however City are spending god knows how much on Grealish and possibly Kane.

Brilliant start to the season. Total domination from start to finish. Chalobah starting at RCB was such a big vote of confidence from Tuchel. Bare in mind all of our CB are fit, I was initially thinking when I saw him in lineup, it was Tuchel assessing whether he wants him in the squad or on loan, however to see him in the team today, showed Tuchel was really impressed with him. He rewarded Tuchel for trusting him also. I love his style of play. He is fast, very confident on the ball and is confident bringing the ball out also. Despite all the incoming and outgoings, one thing we have kept up really well is the amount of players in the squad, coming from academy. Three starting players in the team from academy and ended up with 4 on the pitch. Impressive. Jorginho and Kovacic were dominant in that midfield. Kovacic's energy levels are amazing, especially when you consider he plays the whole match against Villareal, including extra time. Both bossed it. Defo think a CM should be a priority, because Kante minutes need to be managed carefully and if one of Kovacic or Jorginho get injured for instance, then we are extremely light. I do think Mount can do a good cover job if needed there, however we could target a natural CM if needed. That also being said actually, Chalobah good also cover as CM for us. He played in that position for Lorient last season. Things look really good though and not getting complacent as I know we will have our blips, but feel confident about what lies ahead.

Honestly, it is about fucking time we beat them competitively. We need to take advantage of the negative atmosphere at the club and not reinstall confidence in them, which we make a habit of when playing them. Put them to the sword and finish them. Delighted Lukaku will be ready for this. He will raring to go and if he gets chances against that defence, he will be having a field day hopefully.

I genuinely think the best is to come from him, but even he has not lived up to the price tag. This is a big season for him. If they actually buying Ramsdale, then you just know the club are trolling their fans.

Well some of his choices have been questionable. Emery should have been given more time. I mean the team today they played was poor but spending £50m on White shows they can spend big money when they want. He should of been a lesser priority compared to other areas needing reinforcements. Toney absolutely bossed him and Mari too.

Yep, Chalobah defo MOTM for me. Kovacic played the whole game and apart from the error he made early stages, thought he had a decent game too. That recovery challenge he made in extra time, on empty fuel was brilliant too. Another CM is defo needed though and ideally one with a bit of a physical presence and guile also for sure. Kante will have his injury issues and will need careful management. That leaves Jorginho and Kovacic as the only established CM. Should defo target another one, as we are competing on many fronts once again.

Chalobah defo worth of a spot in the squad. Can play both CM and CDM as well.

Yes, I was joking .. it was just ironic 🙄 🙄

That could be considered racist, considering you didn't mention Grealish in that post. I am sure you aren't but just pointing out 😮

If Arsenal match the offer, I think that would be his preferred choice. Would rather see him go abroad but let's see if other teams make an offer for him.

If Lukaku does not win us the league, it most likely is because City are just too good over a 38 game period. I don't think it would differ with Haaland. However, signing Lukaku for me assures me that we will not be in a top 4 battle once again and can actually be looking towards a title challenge rather than top 4 battle.

Well your wording sounds like a person who does not pay much attention to football around the globe. How could you even call him a flop? And as was mentioned above, Italy won the Euros where virtually nearly every single player in that team came from that league. Poor, poor league right? With Lukaku, he can't win. When it's questioned his record for scoring against top teams, it is the fact that he is playing for lower league teams who he has more space to counter but with big teams he finds it more difficult. When he scores goals for fun in Italy against teams who sit deep, it is because the league has poor quality. He has been prolific his whole career and despite his 'flaws' he continues to score goals for fun.

WBA are a relegation competing team, who most times don't even have the ball. That is a phenomenal achievement. Also when he plays for Belgium, they are up against teams that sit deep. He scores for Belgium also. The thing is against Italy, he missed chances but he was a danger, just could not convert. The Italian league is notorious for teams playing defensive. He easily thrived in that league. I mean last season, do you really think Lukaku would not have scored 20 goals plus for us with all the chances we created last season?