The only place to be

Is someone offering £30 million for JT or Cahill? Is there some rule that says we can't sign other defenders? Exactly. Potential. He's 26 years old and we're talking about potential?? Seven Seasons. 300 Appearances. 20 International Caps. Potential??????

We need to sell Torres so people can stop bringing him up in every conversation, whether he applies or not. - We should replace the seats in the East Stand - No!!! First we should replace Torres. Luiz isn't broken, but is he a cornerstone of our team? Is he someone you can rely on week in and week out and build the team on, like we did with JT and Riccy? Not yet. So if someone offers you £30 million with which you could buy one or maybe even two shit-kicking rocks of defenders then you have to consider it.

They've reached an agreement. Everything's done. He will be our next manager. Everyone and his dog has known that for the last month or so. The club will announce it in the proper manner, not because they're shit or inept but because they're professionals who do things like this the right way. They aren't children wanting to open their presents on Christmas Eve because this is a multi-million pound contract that affects a BUSINESS which employs hundreds of people.

Here's the thing about Luiz. He's a great character, he's a great footballer but I still don't know if he's a £30 million DEFENDER. I think even his most ardent fans are hoping that Jose comes in and makes him a more disciplined defender, but we're talking about a 26 year old. When we were talking about JT leaving for Man City, that was a sickener because he was a foundation stone that our entire team was built on - Luiz isn't there yet. He isn't Nesta or Vidic. He's a guy who we're still talking about in terms of what he COULD be and that's a tough thing to turn down £30 million for. Take away the hair, the smile and the personality and I think people wouldn't be quite so against selling him.

It's funny that despite Mourinho failing at Madrid, he still leaves with the highest win percentage of any manager to have taken charge of more than 100 games. Like the Zidane picture though - he's the guy being groomed to take over after the next guy (Ancelotti) right? Always nice to have an idea of who the manager after the manager you haven't even appointed yet will be. I believe that's how you build stability right? PS. Thanks for letting Makelele go - happened a long time ago but still feel the need to say thanks.

Winning is meaningless unless the competition is credible. Do you go to playgrounds and challenge 10 year olds to games? No, because part of the fun is the challenge. I want to see the best against the best so that they have to raise their games. What you're talking about really doesn't bear much relation to what I think sport is.

Fuck me. He had about 12 months of constant support from the fans who looked for little things to get excited about, like winning a corner in the CL Final or simply showing some fucking effort to get in the box. But some of his performances were embarrassing.

Sport is about competition, about beating the best. A boxer could get a 50-0 record by fighting bums all his career, but the truly great ones are the ones who put it on the line against the very best and sometimes they lose, but it's how you pick yourself off the mat and come back that will decide how good you truly were. The better the league, the better we'll have to play and the better the matches are to watch.

Pssh, I wasn't paying enough attention. Too eager to get my shit joke out. On a slightly different note, but 6 months ago I was probably about as fed up with football as I've ever been. But in the last month we've won a cup, got shot of Benitez, got Mourinho back, Lamps got his record and his contract, Fergie has retired, Spurs missed out on CL football, Lukaku has gone into beast mode, we're being linked with Cavani and getting shot of Torres, we've got a great home kit and now another rival (I used that term very loosely) is looking at losing their best player. Oh and the sun is sorta coming out.

Wrong thread. Do you know how you can tell? Juve play in black and white. The Suarez thread is WHITE ONLY.

That's a little unfair. Suarez might have confused Toure with Evra, but in his defence ALL black people look the same to him. I can't take credit for this one, but he could become the first player to leave TWO clubs whilst suspended for biting an opponent. If that's true, that's a pub question for the next 50 years.

The way I see Torres's inclusion isn't just that he might drive down the price a little, but it gets him off the wage book and closes a chapter on one of the worst transfers in football history. He needs a fresh starts, we need a fresh start and this might just be one of those transfers that benefits every party involved.

Suarez is doing something similar.

And the vast majority of those loans are thoroughly worthwhile and better than ones that we were obtaining for young prospects over the past few years. But yeah, they're clueless when it comes to players....that they signed....and are now worth three times as much.

We still own De Bruyne. In terms of squad depth, we need a winger and a striker and Schurrle can fulfil both roles. We're not being screwed in the slightest. We're using our existing resources to acquire new players whilst also giving players like De Bruyne valuable experience in the Champions League, and also competing at the top end of competitive league. Personally I'd prefer both players in the squad next season, but this move is fairly logical.

So that's basically a tweet saying absolutely nothing at all? He's going to be the new manger. Everyone and his dog knows it so let's just wait until it's confirmed which probably won't be until Madrid's season is over.

Fair enough. He gets a year at a better team playing in the Champions League in the season leading up to a World Cup and then we reevaluate in a year's time.

We've got Mourinho, they've got Pellegrini. I reckon they've got a great chance of finishing second.

It's not a case of us not buying 30 year olds specifically, but not buying players who don't have long-term value. It's certainly a big factor but it has to be considered alongside things like the transfer fee, wages and the availability of alternatives. Proper box-to-box midfielders are tough to come by so he has that in his favour, but he's not proven in this league and according to some he's not the player he once was. Maybe we could tempt Roma into a swap deal for Mikel (a man I've never seen linked with a move away from this club).

£25 million is the only reason anyone is giving this any thought. Put it like this. Is he our first choice RB? No. Is he our first or second choice CB? Perhaps, but not if we get the players we seem to be looking at. Is £25 million way more than he's worth? Yep.

He's got a Belgian passport....surprised we don't already own him.

Sorry, but top teams do a variety of things. The best ones seem to find a balance between homegrown players and expensive purchases. That is what I and many other Chelsea supporters want to see this club doing. For every Ribery in the Bayern team, there was a Lahm. For every Dante an Alaba. For every Martinez, a Schweinsteiger. Plus there's a great joy in seeing someone like Nat come up through the youth team, taking his first tentative steps in the first-team and then (hopefully) establishing himself. That's the way top teams do things. Which is what people like Neil Bath were warning people about, saying it would 8-10 years before the academy would start rattling out products like it seems to be on the cusp of now. That's where you and I differ. For me it's one of those tiny connections you have to the club, seeing players like JT come up and tracking their progress over decades. Chelsea Football Club isn't just about the trophy cabinet to me.

I think you're clutching at straws. I think you've taken a view on Jose's return and decided to bash it at every turn. Yes you may trot out that it's just your opinion, but at least try and make worthwhile observations.

Again that will come with a manager who has a full pre-season and a mandate to alter certain things.

You made no mention of Ozil, Deco or Sneijder but thanks for telling me Robben was a winger.