The only place to be

He's signed now. He's a Chelsea player for all intents and purpose. How about you start supporting him or at least give him a chance. Hulk's off in Russia for the foreseeable future. I know it's tempting to imagine him in a Chelsea shirt every time he shakes his arse in our direction but we've signed a hungry, young man with bags of potential and talent who actually wants to be at this club. That to me makes him >>>>>>>>Hulk.

'Another' and 'typical'.....really?? The club over the last couple of years has been a model of restraint and financial prudence in almost all their dealings. This guy is making roughly what Cahill makes (reportedly) partly because he's a good young player but also because that's the financial model at clubs nowadays. He's making less than Benayoun did, less than Malouda did and less than Essien still does but he should contribute more. He's making roughly what Damien Duff was on at Newcastle and that's if the reports are even close to being true, and even if they are there's no mention of signing fees (were there any? were they waived to increase his weekly take home?) and no mention of how the wages are made up (does he have any claim to his image rights and is this figure made up of bonuses).

Didn't take long. The guy has just signed and someone is bitching because we aren't going to sign a winger who is older, costs more and took his arse to Russia for a paycheque. Personally I'm excited about signing someone with so much potential. Plenty have people shit on this guy and tore him to shreds because there was a chance we might loan out De Bruyne for a year. Now we've managed to keep two hot prospects at the club for another year and it's still not good enough?? Fuck me.

And two of them (AVB and Scolari) were failures. I understand what you're saying but I simply think Mikel hasn't shown enough, especially in terms of heart and character and until he does that on a consistent basis then the vast majority of Chelsea fans will have question marks over him. Everyone seems to think he needs replacing bar a few fans of his and most would've loved to have been shot of him. Personally I'm going to limit my discussions about Mikel in future to the West London area because there's far less bullshit involved.

Some Swift thinking there. You knocked me on my arse like you were a big old Blackman.

You Loftus-Cheeky git.

Not a bad move. Could maybe even go to West Ham and spend all season knocking in crosses from the right with Jarvis on the left. Honestly I'm not that bothered what he does though. Never really got a chance to make a connection with him, felt sorry for him most of the season (once Hazard was signed he was fucked) and he's not on massive money so even sticking him in the reserves isn't the biggest problem in the world but ideally you'd want him shipped off somewhere before July.

Give it a fucking rest you tiresome old bore. I'm fed up with the narrative that you constantly try and paint of Mikel, as if he's some type of delicacy that only football connoisseurs can properly assess and enjoy. It really is nothing more than patronising old shit and is insulting to the vast majority of Chelsea supporters both on this board and in real life who know how to evaluate footballers. Mikel is a divisive player not because people aren't capable of understanding what his job is in the team (we loved Maka) but because he's inconsistent and there is the weird cabal of sycophants who defend him in such absurd fashion that it actually makes people dislike him more than he warrants. This whole thread is ridiculous and I'm as guilty of that as the next person but for fucks sake give it a rest.

Fair enough. That point has validity. But most of that post is complete bollocks and I'm sorry to say that because I don't tend to criticise posts that people have put time and effort into. The fact that you've got Choulo trying his best to crawl up your arse doesn't help.

What a fucking load of patronising wank. And trippingstep is pretty much spot on. It's essentially the equivalent of a middle-management memo where trendy tossers try and cram as many buzzwords into a sentence as possible. There's a decent point about the turmoil at this club leading to problems with Mikel knowing his role.....but I don't see too many other players affected by that. It's just people once again making excuses for him because they think they have to baby him. He's a grown-ass man...He's 26 FFS....cut the reins, get him off the teet and start judging him as if he's a professional footballer who is paid a good wage to play football. Next season he has to step up and give consistent performances. That's what most of us judge players on. We don't go by what they might have been or what they once were.

Is there even a market for this guy? If he stays in this country then he's going to have to drop down to a Stoke or Fulham isn't he? Maybe we could loan him and get him of the wage bill but he's very much the odd man out. Probably won't even make the bench next season and I'd be inclined to give the likes of Kiwomya and Boga time in the cup matches over him.

Won't somebody think of KDB Welcome to the Bridge Andre. Would be nice if everyone got off your back now until you kicked a ball for us and judged you from that point on. Looking forward to seeing what he does and it's yet another young player being signed whilst they're on the cusp of (hopefully) greater things.

Really? Part of me loves the idea of us using Liverpool as a feeder club of sorts and Rodgers is a decent coach who will give youth a chance if it deserves it. They'll play football the 'right way' (feel dirty saying that about them), he should get plenty of time and it's probably going to be better than getting involved in a relegation scrap with Palace.

Urgh.....away to the cousin-fuckers. Got a ring of Wigan away in 2005 which isn't a bad omen. Away to Wigan last season too though so would be nice to have a home game this season.

According to reports that Galatasaray move is dead in the water. Oh well....just have to wait until Nat and Ruben come by in a couple of years and put him out to pasture.

This will go with the Galatasaray bid for Mikel in the folder marked 'Too Good To Be True'. Maybe they're looking at a replacement for Villa and maybe they see him as a viable 'Plan B' but after Jose coming back and all the other good stuff that's happened to the club I'm seriously doubting this.

Early front-runner surely. Maybe there should be a ceremonial locking of this thread though. Daddy's home. :blue scalf:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/roberto-mancini-eyes-up-premier-1940296

Or be stuck with Essien and Mikel. Hopefully this is a show of faith in youngsters like Chalobah, and just a chance for Romeu to get a whole season under his belt after injury. Not particularly enamoured with this loan deal though.

I don't see how it tarnishes this club's image in the slightest. To me that's just more of the tabloid bullshit that most sports fans couldn't give a shit about and that's without mentioning his massive marketability which runs contrary to the suggestion you're making. As for what he brings to the football side of things, one of the great things he brings is versatility. He can play in the hole which enables us to bring Lukaku through whilst also resting someone like Mata. But as a pure striker I like the fact that he can play on the last man whilst also having the vision and ability to bring other players into the game, which is going to be key when you have players like Hazard, Mata, Oscar and possibly Schurrle playing behind him. He's strong, has a great eye for a goal and has done it at the very highest level. That doesn't mean Cavani can't do the same thing (for about £20 million more) but there's every chance he's a flop too. One more point - this talk of a decline. It seems to have been brought up by someone without any evidence or context to support it (what a fucking surprise eh?). Is Aguero also on a decline? He had a worse season than Rooney did last year, and also the year before yet no-one seems to be suggesting he's on a downwards trajectory. In fact at least one person has suggested he's a better striker than Rooney. It's amazing how people can be influenced by gossip rags and tabloid shit.

I think it's a fair point to compare him to Torres because they both play in this country and have had poor seasons.....but that's about it. Torres decline has been marked by a loss of that explosive pace that made him such a threat at Atletico and Liverpool. Rooney never relied on that. He was much more about technique and power, workrate and intelligent movement and those are things I don't see him having lost over the last year. That's why I don't see any similarities beyond the superficial. I do think Cavani could be a great player for us, but I simply think that Rooney has the potential to be better in this team and under Mourinho. i think he offers something that we might be lacking in terms of aggression and I think United know that which is why he almost certainly won't be joining us. But I think there's something more pernicious and unsavoury about some of the criticism he's faced and it's something very unique to English culture.

No, but there are people on here who are capable of making posts that are interesting, provide insight and new ways of looking at thing and don't rely simply on broad generalities and emoticons. It's nothing personal, I've just not seen anything in your posts that adds a single point to the discussion. The fact that you were looking for a comeback and not an explanation sums you up.

Oh well. Can't say I didn't give you a chance.

In decline at the age of 27? The guy has had fitness concerns but are you seriously telling me that he couldn't get himself back to his best? As for his technical skills, I don't think they're close to being in decline. But we've had this discussion before and I'm going to give you another shot to say something that interests me. If not I think we'll just knock it on the head.

Stuart Pearce is an absolute joke of a coach. Can't imagine Jose or Fergie blaming the players and not defending them to the media after a match. What an absolute joke that he's u21 manager.