The only place to be

Don't care who we get, but I want us to play on the first Saturday. One of the companies will want to show it, but I'd take a midday kick-off so long as we play Saturday. First day of the season is about sunny weather, short sleeves and high expectations.

£20 million makes me think this is a joke, and a particularly cruel one at that. Is that really his market value? That would be a great amount of money for a player who was barely a bench player towards the end of last season and would be a show of faith to some of the younger guys who will be pushing him for a spot next season.

Weird. If he has gone then wonder what those quotes earlier from the Partizan president were all about?? I imagine this one isn't over just yet.

Where have you heard we aren't interested? The reports from Nigeria seem to indicate he is unwilling to leave, not that we aren't willing to sell. He seems intent on pissing off as many Chelsea supporters as possible if that's true.

I think he's joking. Sarcasm on the internet is a tricky one.

Great article. He looked better than he has done in a while but I think there was a realisation that he wasn't going to top that first press conference and there really wasn't a need to. He's also a decade or so older and (hopefully) wiser. The main objective in these first pressers is DON'T GET FIRED! He did that and he was honest - until he's met the players (some for the first time) then it's unfair to comment and more importantly, it's disadvantageous. This was just a box-ticker. He's back, and it was great to see.

De Bruyne and Lukaku ready to be part of the squad.

Jesus.....should've made that idiot cry. Simple response - you don't have a fucking clue what happened....sit down, shut up.

Why? They can make that shit up on the train home.

Fantastic bit of business as others have said. Not only is it good to get a young player with potential and then blood him but it's also fantastic to build these relationships with clubs in other countries. Of course we have the Vitesse link-up but it's also important to have these good links with clubs like Atletico and now Benfica which are mutually beneficial, bearing in mind we have sent about £40 million their way when we signed Luiz and Rami.

Press conferences like this are always a bit dull. The questions are all the bloody same and he will have been prepared for them, so it's a very stunted, fake performance. Generally the rule is don't say anything stupid, get this crap out of the way and then get on with the football. Having said that, he's acknowledged that and there's a bit of a spark.

I don't think any club would consider buying Rooney 'settling', and yes they're both massive amounts of money in the grand scheme of things which is why I put it in terms of players we could add to the squad. To me both players can do similar jobs, but Rooney knows this league and under Mourinho could be a terrifying player for the opposition.

£20 for Mikel? Will that come in two instalments of a tenner now and a tenner when he scores his first goal? Might have a nap after the press conference because for a moment there I thought you said £20 million. :lol2:

You make some great points and I agree with most of them entirely. But one thing kept running through my head when I read this..... I'd rather have Wayne Rooney. Hard-working, big-game player, brings other players into the game, scored goals.....that obviously all has an asterisk based on fitness but they're roughly the same age and Rooney's price was mooted to be about £20 million less than Cavani. £20 million - that's Schurrle. That's probably a Mangala, maybe even 2/3 of a Varane. It's two De Rossis, or one De Rossi and one Van Ginkel. I trust the club to manage their finances and get value but £50 million+ for Cavani is terrifying.

This is like some WWF show....the return after six years away from the ring.....coming out to Macho Man's music, Eva Carneiro on his arm....he makes his way around the room, sits and prepares to take his first question.... But Wait...... What the heck??!!!! THAT'S EDINSON CAVANI'S MUSIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Barcelona player moaning about someone doing damage to Spanish football. How about a collective bargaining deal for the TV money you sanctimonious, fucking selfish cunty cunt cunts!!

Young winger, homegrown, played more than 40 games in his first season, scored 10 goals and still valued at a little bit more than we signed him for. Hardly a nonsensical signing was he. Wouldn't like to see him go and not for that figure, but it depends entirely on the squad makeup.

I'd be happy with that and I think it would do him the world of good because he's got a lot of shit on here, almost exclusively because people thought we would lose De Bruyne. That led to comparisons and people essentially looking for reasons not to sign Schurrle/lose KDB. He had nothing to do with these negotiations and he wasn't the one asking for KDB to go the other way. He's just a very promising young man looking to challenge himself on the biggest stage and that's what we want at this club.

On this one point you want to check your facts - AVB kept him at the club (along with Lukaku) instead of loaning him out and by the time he agreed to let him go, teams had settled on their strongest line-ups and Josh didn't stand a chance. If you want to discuss loans then that's fine but you don't seem to have a fucking clue what you're on about. As for Chalobah, that goal came late in the season long after most people had seen his quality in the midfield for Watford. Maybe you could've joined them then you wouldn't keep mugging yourself off. Again, you don't have a fucking clue what you're on about. Does this 'earth' you two live on not have a rail connection to Watford?

Completely different skill set from Rami and has everything to be better than Mikel right now in my opinion. You'll always get people slagging off young players for whatever reason, and there are plenty who have talent but still won't make it at this club. Nat seems to have everything needed to succeed though, and his attitude and maturity are exemplary. The saving grace from these last two results is that Pearce's position is nigh-on untenable, and that's a massive relief because he's such a shit coach. Entrusting him with the next generation of English talent is criminal in my opinion.

I had to stop here - if he's at the peak of his career, how will he get better? Wouldn't that point when he's better be his peak? There are 11 players on a pitch - there's no rule that says all the goals have to come through your number 9. You don't get extra points for a striker scoring them. He could be a great player for us and he could lead us to the title but any Chelsea supporter who doesn't have a bit of apprehension about expensive strikers coming to this club needs to read up on their history. Yes Drogba was a legend for us (although his early seasons were not spectacular despite us winning titles) but I can name far more big-name strikers who failed at this club.

And Liverpool have won 18 - I think you're missing the point which is that there is more than one way to be successful. We don't have to copy United, and quite honestly if we're going down the route of taking things on from them then there are other things I'd focus on first. I suppose so, if you want to misrepresent history and diminish our achievements in 04-06. By the way, United's success with RVP was from them buying a striker who had a proven track record in this league for around £20 million. We're looking at signing a striker new to this league for over twice as much. If you want us to copy United, why not Rooney who would be a closer comparison to RVP?

I'm never quite sure why we're using United as the model for squad building when we won two titles without a 20 goal-a-season striker, and we have players like Hazard and Mata who have shown an ability to score big goals.

Lukaku is sticking around by all accounts and I'd much rather have him coming off the bench than Ba to be quite honest. But you're right that we need to be shipping Torres off. Shame Benitez doesn't seem to rate him as highly as he did in all those press conferences where he was praising his workrate in training.

People have understandable reservations about us spending so much money on this guy. Personally I'd be surprised if we actually were close to agreeing a deal for this much money because I don't think our board are like this anymore.