The only place to be

The guy took a massive paycheque to go to Russia - that to me suggests that whatever drove him to succeed and be the best in the past simply wasn't there anymore. He looks a shadow of his former self and he's lost that yard of pace and explosiveness that he once had. How many 32 year olds lose that and then get it back? I'll take any sportsmen as an answer.

So your point is that Eto'o used to be great.

Classy move by Jose. The Mail are already saying we're signing the kid for £20 million in January.

If he has a release clause then they can't do much about it (depending on the clause). Compared to the rumours of us getting Falcao or Cavani, this one actually holds some appeal for me. Firstly he's a good age. Secondly the price isn't stupid and thirdly he actually looks like the type of player who might thrive in our league. He reminds me a little of Negredo in that he's robust, but he's also a bit of a workhorse rather than simply a finesse player. The temperament is always an issue but he's done well to step up and take Falcao's workload in the team. The problem lies with what then happens with Lukaku. But overall I like the idea of this guy in the team. He'll definitely give defences something to think about which creates that inch of space our midfielders need and he's very much a Mourinho-type player.

He has some half-decent links at the club and he's generally not a bad guy. Hazard right now is at a key point in his career. He can kick on and become one of the best in the world but he needs to work hard at his game like Ronaldo and Bale did. The stories about those guys were always the same - stayed after training and worked on their game, especially free kicks.

Article in the Mail today by Ashton that suggests Eden is the first off the pitch after training and hints at issues about his commitment. Not sure what to make of it. The guy has all the talent in the world but he clearly has games where he's more up for it than others.

Witsel would cost at least £35 million in January IF we could get him from Zenit which is unlikely when they still have CL football. After the season ends then there's a better chance of signing a top class midfielder at a decent price. On a slightly less serious note, this guy apparently has the third highest combined attribute rating on FIFA 14 behind only Ronaldo and Bale.

Good touch, decent engine, available, fills a need (possibly), okay price, in his prime.....not an exciting signing but helps. Who? Who is available in January? Which £35 million midfielder are you talking about?

Completely different types of signings commanding completely different fees and contracts and I doubt Inter would want to sell him in the next year. He's the type of asset you build around and they know that. Guarin is more of a role-player and that's what we need right now (of what's available).

Slowly, not too sure about surely. I like him but it remains to be seen how he does here although he deserves a chance (probably). Ultimately Guarin will have re-sale value whatever happens of at least £4-6 million. Mikel goes for £7-10 million and you've recouped that money. There's not much downside to this deal and quite a lot of upside when you look at this guys physical and technical tools. The question is whether Mourinho can get the best out of him in the short-term. And the Chelsea fans response would be much stronger if we were to sell Chalobah than Mikel. We have young players who can't get a game with us - we don't need to sign one from Inter, despite him being a promising player. He's one for the summer if anything.

At the end of the day, we needs to stick with him because he is quite possibly the last chance we have at building a properly sustainable club for the next decade. Who are the alternatives? Some other rent-a-coach who gets his paycheque, doesn't fix the underlying issues and then is replaced after two years? We need to go all-in with Jose and hope it pays off.

And Guarin may well take both their places. Financially it's not a massive commitment when you look at the possibility of getting those two off the books and possibly a transfer fee for Mikel.

Rami, Guarin, Lamps, Chalobah would be good too.

It wouldn't be questionable in the slightest. It's when a lot of the gloryhunters started finding relatives who had long supported us.

This is leaving the problem until summer. Unfortunately we have a few matches between now and then. We need a midfielder and this guy could do a job for what is a relatively low fee. He's also free to play in the CL and probably close to his true market value and not the January panic-price.

Cabaye has been quoted at about £20 million and is also wanted by PSG - enjoy a bidding war with them.

Oh well done. You supported us when we were one of the most fashionable teams around. Wait...you supported us since 1997....when you were born? And I have no doubt that you and I have very different definitions of what football is.

Who? Gundogan? Witsel? Pogba? Two of those players are scheduled to play one another in the next round so it's unlikely we'll get them for a competitive price. Guarin might just be the best available option that fits our budget.

Wind your neck in kid. You're 16. You talk about silver spoons but I doubt you have the first fucking clue how lucky you are to support this club in the time you have, yet you chastise people who know more about what this club is actually about like you're some 'true blue'. Supporters are free to criticise facets of this club when they under-perform. That's football.

Money is key to our success. I wish it wasn't like that, but it is. We need quality players in key positions and we're probably going to need to buy them. There's a reason there's a whole section dedicated to transfers on every single football forum. So we shouldn't use young players and we shouldn't talk so much about money. Where are we getting these new players from then? Is there a part of Stamford Bridge they we've all collectively forgotten about which contains world-class footballers. Would you like me to check in the toilet stalls next time I go, or maybe put up a few posters to raise awareness or this careless mistake? Because you'll never win anything with kids (despite us having plenty of experience throughout the squad). So from moaning about us talking about money and not relying on inexperienced youths, you actually concede that keeping a 19 year old striker who could cost up to £18 million 'is a plan'? We should have gotten someone else....so in this case money was the key and we should've bought a new one? The problem is that this 'new philosphy' isn't apparent on the pitch. In fact the new philosphy looks an awful lot like the old philosophy under Rafa with a few minor tweaks. All this talk about eggs and he brings in a 32 year old Eto'o and lets Lukaku go. He says we are in trouble, then denies he said it. The fact is we're incredibly lucky that the league is as weak as I can remember it being and our Champions League group was the easiest one. We've been lucky to get a point at home to West Brom and not see it go the way of the Stoke game. The youth situation has actually regressed from last year as well. In so many facets Jose has underwhelmed, but he still needs time.

Sorry, but when players aren't performing supporters will bash them.

Not even close. Emile had strength and pace about him (early in his career at least). It's hard to believe what a pussy he is on the ball.

Pace and power. Cech Ivanovic Terry Couldn't give a Fuck Azpi Ramires Couldn't give a fuck but erring towards Lamps Schurrle Willian Hazard Useless cunt 1, 2 or 3 Ideally I'd like to see a front four of Schurrle, Oscar (to drop deeper), Hazard and Willian and let them run at the Arsenal defence. This should be a game we dominate because of Arsenal's style of play but we're lacking the players to properly do the job we need them to so it's going to be a tricky one.

I'd like to see us return to the dominating, speedy system of yesteryear and I think we have players that it suits. We're just lacking the midfield to do it. I also think that system is completely wrong for Mata, but perfect for players like Hazard, Schurrle, Willian and Oscar. I'd like us to also invest in defenders who are stoppers and just get the ball to the next level....and then we need that next level. Rami can drive the ball out of defence with pace and so could Guarin potentially. If you look at our academy, we have players who are powerful and speedy so why not just make that our ethos? We seem perfectly set up to play that style effectively for the next decade.

The plural of succubus.