Reddish-Blue

You might get mad...but it seems like the only logical explanation as to why we're spending 50+ million on a CB....when our key problem is wingbacks & midfield. If you sign Van Dijk...then you could have: Van Dijk/Cahill - Azpi - Rudiger/Christensen for the three CB roles and free up Luiz to play CB or fill in the midfield

Maybe he got a squad number because no one else wants to sign him after that social media outburst.. Hopefully we sign a proper LWB as competition for Alonso as Kenedy definitely isn't ready

We'll never end up like Arsenal. They are run like a top-6 club. They have a safety net knowing that Wenger won't win you the title but he gets enough out of his players to all but guarantee at least a Europa League place. For Chelsea...there is no safety net...if something goes seriously wrong, there will no top 4. However, if everything clicks in place, the winning mentality is there, so we're likely to challenge for the title.

It seems like our board only wants to do something if the club is in crisis mode. I remember most of the pundits on BT Sport/ BBC MOTD saying that we needed to strengthen the 14/15 title winning squad..otherwise there was a big risk of us falling out of the top 4 the following season and look what happened in 15/16. I hope Conte can keep us in the conversation for a top 4 place as our current squad is 1-2 injuries away from serious issues! We're taking a gamble on Morata (has had injury issues/never faced the pressure of being the #1 option), Bakayoko (still recovering) and Rudiger (recovering from ACL), hope it pays off

Moses has always shown flashes of potential on the wing (at both Crystal Palace and Wigan)...but unfortunately, he was never able to add decent finishing to his skill set. We should have just saved our money and kept Bertrand Traore (he knows how to score goals and he would have been a nice winger/striker option off the bench this season)

LOL Jason, I didn't expect this type of reply from you.. 1) City and Arsenal were never rivals...there was never 'hate' between the clubs apart from the whole Adebayor celebration. 2) A 30 year old striker is not a bright talent...so I'm not sure what you mean. There is a difference between signing a 23 year old homegrown youngster who can play a key role for 10 years...and a 30 year with 1-2 years left in the tank. 3) Cech to Arsenal wasn't a major transfer, he was a great goalkeeper past his peak who preferred to stay in London for his family... If we didn't have an equally-good keeper waiting in the wings, then maybe it would have been a major transfer.. Anyway, back to the topic at hand...hopefully we can sign someone capable of challenging/displacing Moses from that RWB role.

Well Nasri never moved to a direct rival...he just chose money (just like Adebayor, Hleb, Song, Cesc). As for Van Persie, he wasn't a bright talent, he was a often-injured 30 year old looking to win a title. I'd be shocked if Arsenal let the Ox move to Chelsea...as our last major transfer with them was 11 years ago!

Arsenal won't sell one of their brightest talents to us. We'll probably end up paying for Ryan Bertrand to be Alonso's competition at LWB.

This is the problem for every manager in charge of Chelsea. Do you trust the youngster and play him (& risk being fired) or do you loan him out and hope he develops into something special (e.g. Courtois, Christensen, even Lukaku / De Bruyne to some extent)?

It's not a meaningless friendly if you're trying to earn a spot on the bench for the upcoming season. His movement, dribbling and physical tools were there for all to see. Hopefully he can improve his decision-making..otherwise I see shades of Kakuta.

Hopefully Arsenal agree to a deal & return the favor for giving them our legendary keeper!

Hope Tammy lights it up for Swansea this season We could use another quality homegrown player next season!

If we don't get Auba or Belotti to lead the line, is our squad good enough to finish top 4 this season?

Is their actually proof that Lukaku wanted to join us in this transfer window...because I don't recall him saying anything about Chelsea, he just wanted to step up in his career, wanted to play for a top club. If I remember correctly, he mentioned something like 'B**S***' when he was linked to Chelsea...so I'm guessing he knew United were in for him, they were probably just trying to keep things under wraps whilst the Rooney deal got finalized.

To be fair, maybe the board is hesitant on spending such a big amount on one player (e.g. if you look at all the players we've been linked with, apart from Alex Sandro, every other rumor/bid has been well below 45 million...probably the reason why United got Lukaku instead of us). I'll be interested to see who we sign as Belotti seems to prefer Milan and there hasn't been any real evidence of us bidding for Aubameyang (even though their CEO is 'waiting' for offers)

Well if no-one ends up signing him...he can stick around as our 3rd choice striker

I guess the question is: Will Leicester sell to another Premier League side for 30 million? There were rumors of Leicester holding out for at least 40 million if they were to sell to another English club (probably the reason why Arsenal aren't that interested and Liverpool preferred Salah)

Obviously Arsenal wouldn't take our offer seriously....but from Sanchez' point of view, he'd be better off at Chelsea than City. They already have an overload in attacking players...at least at Chelsea, he'd be guaranteed starter alongside Hazard.

If we had to invest into a young striker, I'd bet on Belotti. The kid has it all. However, if the board don't want to pay the 89 million..then the next best option would be Aubameyang. Proven goal scorer, coming from a quality team, offers something different from Michy.

As long as Matic ends up anywhere but Manchester United, he can leave.

There was an interview with Thierry Henry about Belgium's attacking talent atm and I recall Henry saying something like: "Michy is a pure confidence player, if he's feeling the flow of the game, he's close to the best finisher in the team, he's capable of pulling off outrageous things you wouldn't expect". Henry also said the same thing about Hazard...he was like if Eden ever becomes ruthless/selfish in front of goal, watch out opposition defenders. I feel as though If Michy is given a run of games and he gains confidence, he can get us 10+ goals this season. *Apologies for going off-topic* I wouldn't mind Morata, but I would prefer Belotti as I feel he's got more upside in his overall game.

I agree with your points mate. I'm just saying that Belotti is only 23, whilst Costa is close to his physical peak at 28. Give someone like Belotti 2 seasons under Conte and he could be just as good as Costa (in terms of goal scoring impact).

Hopefully he doesn't become another McEachran....

I don't think Belotti is a downgrade from Costa. He would cost a fortune but in terms of talent and pure goal-scoring ability, he's up there with Costa.

I just hope the board back him in the transfer market. We can't afford to let another class manager leave!