The only place to be

Fine, let's sell Cahill too. To me he's a good third-choice CB a bit like Ivanovic. Papa and Mangala are both defenders I like because they're a bit more no-nonsense than Luiz but they're both buys based on potential. The difference is they're both young guys. If we could get both of them for roughly the same money we'd sell Luiz for then it's got to be considered.

Hey look, a pop at Jose. You keep playing that one note. If Barca offered £15 million for Cahill I'd say take it. If Barca offered £25 million for Ivanovic (like Monaco were rumoured to) I'd say take it. If Barca offered £10 million for JT, then I'd say consider it. This whole discussion is based on a £30 million bid for Luiz. That is a lot of money for potential at the age of 26. I think at this point in his career the David Luiz we see play week in and week out might be who David Luiz actually is. If that's the case and there are other, younger players out there who do what Mourinho wants defenders to do for less money than it has to be considered.

Here's a question. We sell him to them, sign someone like Cavani and we meet them in the CL semi-finals. Would part of you be thinking that Luiz might throw in a mistake that gifts us a goal over the 180 minutes? At this moment, I'd be thinking exactly that because that's what I'm thinking when I watch him play for us. Until I don't go into matches thinking that, then why wouldn't you consider an offer like that? Until you don't see him do what he did against Everton and think 'yep' then you have to look at offers like this.

At this moment, probably Luiz but it depends on what happens this summer and what their form is like. If we signed two CBs then I wouldn't be surprised in the slightest. We might even look at internal options like Nat or Ake.

No, Chelsea supporters are talking about the make-up of our team next season.

Good points. The issue I have is whether he has the personality that can eliminate these mistakes entirely. When you look at someone like JT and Kompany, these guys live to defend. They love to make a near-post clearance or a clattering challenge. That's the best thing about football for them. With Luiz, I think he wants to be on the ball, going towards goal and having a shot. That's great but is that what Jose Mourinho wants to build a title-winning side on? Does he want that as his platform or does he want to nasty cunts who stop the ball and give it to the midfield? Personally I'd like to see what Mourinho could do with Luiz but if he chose to sell him then I'd understand entirely.

We enjoy irreverence in this country. The problem with him in Spain was that he didn't walk around on bended knee in awe of the spectacle that is Real Madrid. They don't want coaches with personality there, they want caretakers, bland and invisible.

What is this unique skill set? 30 yard screamers and free-kicks? I don't need defenders with a unique skill set. I need defenders that midfielders can trust not to make silly mistakes. Yes he has cut them out of his game a lot in the second half of the season, but he still threw one in there on the last day of the season and I still don't trust him like I did someone like Terry. As for other teams, Kompany to me is a £30 million defender. He's a rock that you build on, an intelligent leader and the closest thing to Vidic/Terry around. I'd even say Nastasic is a better defender if we factor in potential.

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.