The only place to be

Whilst that first sentence did make me laugh, I don't think supporting our young players and wanting to see them given a chance is a bad trait to have. Sure it might take a bit longer than throwing money at established stars and it might not sell as many t-shirts but I've always thought most supporters wanted to see clubs developing talent. It's why people take notice of FA Youth Cup games and teams that have out players on loan. I don't think people 'jack off' to them but I think people enjoy watching them progress and do well when given the chance.

Almost certainly not, but we could apply under the 'special talent' label and he would probably qualify.

Yet he scored twice the number of goals as their first-choice (although having said that he started most of their games in the second-half of the season).

Yes it is, but like I mentioned earlier it's not like we have to give a shit about the long-term future of this club. Let's just rack up the debts on daddy's credit card and let someone in the future worry about paying it off. Have you seen all the shirts you can buy in sports shops nowadays? if this club goes under because of short-term thinking there's tons of other options out there. £8 million was the difference last year between us being profitable and us making a loss. £8 million is more than we spent on Azpi, De Bruyne and Courtois each. £8 million is roughly DOUBLE what Robert Lewandowski cost.

Great news and I'll be very excited to see him playing next season BUT people now need to start tempering their expectations. During the Schurrle transfer talk and De Bruyne's possible loan next season, he was built up to somewhat unrealistic heights. He is a fantastic player, but I fear some people might be a tad underwhelmed when he comes to Britain via plane rather than walks across the British Channel, healing a few lepers on the way. But he offers depth in a number of positions and is another exciting young talent at the club.

A very strong performance and one everyone knows he is capable of doing, which is why it's so frustrating watching him a lot of the time. I've wondered before whether he could be a DLP, with the freedom to go forward more rather than playing some neutered, Makelele-lite role in a team that doesn't really need it. If you look at the roles Chalobah played at Watford and Loftus-Cheek plays in the youth team, they're afforded much more freedom to venture forward like Martinez and Schweinsteiger have in that Bayern team. Allowing Mikel that option might make him a bit more alert in games, so he takes games by the scruff of the neck like he did against Uruguay.

What the fuck?

He absolutely was our best CB last season. That doesn't mean he can't switch-off at times though. Utter bollocks mate. No player from any team is off-limits if the money is right. You would sell your best CB if you thought you could use that money to re-invest and make your team better. That's just the way football works. This notion that we aren't a selling club is fucking ridiculous - all clubs sell players, but the criteria varies. The simple fact is not a single person who says we shouldn't sell him is saying that he's the finished article. Everyone inserts the caveat of 'just imagine what Jose can do with him' - that's why he's not what I consider part of our spine yet. He needs to further refine his game, stop taking certain chances and continue to improve, but that's a lot of things to consider when someone possible bids €45 million for a player.

Jesus...even his proposed transfer is slow-moving and tedious.

This is also a good sign for youngsters like Nat Chalobah. Maybe a defining moment in the recent history of this club.

When has Oscar been used in the same way?

Not quite sure why De Bruyne has to be brought into ever discussion, especially one about a player who would be used in a deeper role in all likelihood. Like this guy, like his price, like the fact that we're looking to do things differently in the pivot.

I think you'd struggle to find anyone who hates Mikel. There are just many, many people who don't rate him and think we should sell him. Personally I think hate is a pretty strong emotion to throw around so flippantly when talking about sport.

Really hope this guy knocks Cavani on his arse....figuratively. Come in, take your chance and make Cavani's mum and dad cry.

I think this is a signal that the club are looking to have players in the squad better able of controlling the tempo positively, rather than simply trying to limit the opposition to 34 chances in a game and rely on luck. But he'll go down in history as being in Munich on that night and we'll say thanks for that, like we did with Bosingwa, Malouda, Kalou, Sturridge and maybe even Torres.

Lukaku is a player on the way up who has shown an exemplary attitude in his short time at this club BUT a £30 million offer would definitely have to be considered partly because that's more than his true market worth at this point in time. I personally would choose not to because I believe he definitely will get better, with or without Mourinho's guidance. I don't definitively know that about Luiz. I love certain parts of Luiz's character, but he does sometimes switch-off. If he can eliminate those moments and basically grow up a little bit then it's a lot harder to sell him but €45 million is a lot to say no to, and it might also be a lot for Real Madrid to say no to if we went after Varane.

Is that the only offer on the table though? None of the big clubs in England, Spain, Germany or Italy really fancied him???

More mobile? What does that mean?

I think people see his potential as a deep-lying playmaker a la Modric. He's wasted on the wing, Mata seems to have the number 10 role sewn up so this seems the best position to utilise his skill set week in and week out.

On the Mail website now, using the same Turkish source. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2344939/John-Mikel-Obi-to-Galatasaray-Chelsea.html

Last year he struggled for games at time, and with Chalobah, Romeu and Essien all back in contention (hopefully) then he becomes the odd man out, and that's before we go into the market. Be interesting to see what the fee is.

Wow....Drogba still loves this club so much that he did this for us. Didier....I love you.

I think most people just see a young guy who was improving with almost every performance. What I loved about him was his ability to get the ball and move it on quickly, sometimes finding an incisive pass through the lines and looking stronger and stronger in defence. Losing him last season was a massive blow because I think he would've been a big player for us in the pivot. Some people can make little comments about people overrating players but I think a lot of people see something in players like Romeu and Chalobah that is missing from some of our older players. There's a hunger and a sense of urgency to their play. It would be a real shame if this guy didn't get another chance at this club because he seemed to have everything we needed.

No. No he's not. He's a great player who has a lot of talent and determination but you are seriously overstating his importance to this club. The great thing about him is that he has talent and great physical tools backed up by a strong mentality that pushes him on. The problem is that that same mentality seems to have the ability to switch off at times, and play a bit too casual. That's what leads to mistakes in my opinion. As for the bid, €45 million is a lot of money and at the moment we're talking about a player in terms of his potential, two and a half years after signing him. We're taking about what Jose could do with him, and that's always going to lead to the club taking any offer for him seriously especially when it so wildly overvalues him. But this is the point. You don't seem to have an idea of how good he could be next season and until we do, €45 million is a lot to say no to.

Still can't get excited about this deal. It feels like a shortcut. We had in place a system of acquiring young players who could grow at this club and represented value. Now we're just cramming money into the most expensive tart's g-string.