The only place to be

I like Stats, but I think he's just wrong on this issue. He refuses to acknowledge that Mourinho demands a certain attitude from players and Lukaku fell short of that. Stats (perhaps appropriately) keeps repeating how many goals he scored and at what age and that's it. They're very fine stats, but football is more than that. It's about chemistry, it's about fight and when presented with a challenge he asked for a transfer (not a loan, a transfer). Mourinho doesn't want that and neither do a lot of fans now. As for you, just go with Lukaku to Everton. Clearly you don't really like the Chelsea supporters that much (apparently we don't appreciate Lukaku enough) or our manager so I'm not really sure what's keeping you here. That's a silly comment to make. Chelsea have sold players throughout their history. In English football parlance, a selling club is a club who is forced to sell their best players against their wishes. So Spurs would be one, having sold Bale, Modric and Berbatov. That's not us. Do you see the difference?

No. But then you're just trolling aren't you.

The thing is we needed him last season. We needed him to fight for his spot and instead he went somewhere there was less competition. That's something that winners like Mourinho don't want in their team and you clearly don't understand why which is indicative of some parts of our society. People seem to think that they're ENTITLED to certain things and shouldn't have to fight for them. It's a wider problem in society so I can't really blame you. Let's just agree to disagree because it seems like a concept that is completely anathema to you at this point in your life.

No-one has bashed his goalscoring achievements, simply his attitude. The fact that you have to twist people's words (as others have, calling people 'haters' and other bollocks) suggests that maybe you're not being entirely honest.

I don't hate him. I loved the idea of him playing for us but I'm disappointed that he threw it away. He actually asked to leave the club. This club. The club you say you support. He didn't want to play for it. Jose doesn't want players who don't want to work hard and win their spot. That's the truth. If you can't understand that then I can't help you. Just please, for my benefit say that you understand this basic notion. I normally assume people read things I post, absorb them, understand them....but with you I actually need to see you say that you've read and understand it. If you do I'll donate £5 to the monthly upkeep of this site ok because I feel like I've typed it before but it's simply not registered with you. Ok? Cheers. Actually it comes down to attitude. Yes he scored goals for mid-table sides at a young age. Technically I think he leaves a lot to be desired, but that all pales in comparison to attitude. Again, try and understand that. What we have is a squad full of players with first-class attitudes. Lukaku requested a transfer because he had competition for a spot. If that's what you think is a decent attitude to have to your profession, then you're going to get an almighty wake-up call when you leave school and enter the working world.

Great attitude. There's a player who has bought into Jose's mentality 100% and recognises that team comes first. Big season for him.

£28 million for a striker he doesn't perhaps rate, who walked away from a chance to win the number 9 shirt at Chelsea to a guaranteed start at Everton, having already signed a new number one striker. I'm perplexed at anyone's ability to be surprised, confused or flummoxed by this move.

Oh I forgot you're in the know. Yes I know he played CL at that age. I also know that he said he wants to play CL next season, that it's a must, that it's what great players like Rooney and Ronaldo did. Oh wait, didn't you know that Everton aren't in the Champions League next season? Oops. I don't hate him. I'm disappointed in him. Learn the difference. http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/02/11/uk-soccer-belgium-lukaku-idUKBREA1A0FZ20140211

Here's what you don't understand and keep burying your head in the sand about. WE loan players, players don't ask to be loaned. He quit in the face of opposition. You want to bash the club because you're so enamoured with this player that you ignore these basic facts. Mourinho is a winner. He demands a certain level of commitment from his players. Lukaku FAILED to live up to that. He will never succeed. Try and get your head around that.

Basically we've sold a guy who isn't good enough to be our number 1 striker, put in a transfer request when he actually had to compete for a spot, talks too much and is technically limited.....to a club who aren't a direct rival, for twice what we paid for him. And people are moaning? EDIT...oh and he had two years left on his contract.

That's funny. You should be in a good mood though. Lukaku will be a much happier person now he's realised what level he's capable of playing at. His poor performances at the World Cup probably made him recognise that he's simply not a Champions League calibre player so he's gone somewhere we he won't have to gain try and fail.

`Won't you be going with him? Maybe you'll be appreciated by Everton fans too

Ridiculous hyperbole.

"It is high time that I play in the Champions League. It is the next step I need in my development. Full stop." Kids, follow your dreams. Don't give up on them like Romelu Lukaku.

To be fair the cryptic tweets don't help. It's not even like I dislike Everton fans enough that I'd like to see him troll them. Maybe he is on his way from Belgium to Holland and the new chapter is at Chelsea. If that's the case then I do like the attitude he seems to have regarding it.

How does that work? If we can sell Lukaku AND Torres then a deal with PSG might happen, especially if they also want Cech. If we just sell Lukaku then we have Costa, Drogba and Torres still.

Are the Drogba comparison based on anything more than him being a big, black, long haired striker? As footballers they're markedly different. Drogba is a two-footed player who is fantastic in the air, strong in possession and with his back to goal, an excellent passer of the ball for a big target man, intelligent and great at bringing others into the game. Lukaku is a poacher in reality. He's good at running into space but his technique is lacking, he's shockingly bad in the air for someone with his physical gifts and his hold-up play is also pretty bad. Lukaku is closer in style to Costa which is why losing him isn't that bad. If you want a striker off the bench who changes the way you attack then I'm not sure he's the guy. If you really want to anoint a big, black, Belgian as the next Drogba then Benteke is your man and I wouldn't mind us going for him. The guy was even born in Africa.

Some of that is ridiculously unfair. Whilst he needs to be more consistent there were matches where he was remarkable for pretty much the full 90, like Man City away, Sunderland, Newcastle and a couple of others. Then there's matches like Fulham where he took control and won us the game. I like to look at Cesc's arrival a different way, that he actually takes a lot of pressure off of Hazard. He carried so much of the weight of having to create chances and didn't get anywhere near enough help from Oscar,Ramires, Mikel, Lamps or Willian. Opposition teams can then anticipate every ball being played to the left. Fabregas has the ability to mix it up a bit, to bring other players in to the fold and create things on his own. Hazard doesn't therefore have to be THE playmaker, he can either share the workload or just be another attacking weapon for Fabregas to play in. Hazard has shown enough for me to be patient with him, but this season is something of a make or break for him because there's no excuses. He has the midfield playmaker, he has the overlapping left-footed left-back and he has the target man.

Sturridge's hold-up play and his ability to drop deep and bring others into the game with his passing would be very useful. That's the one positive to take from Torres's presence. On the ball he's still got some quality. Bizarrely he's probably still better than Lukaku at holding the ball up with his back to goal, although neither is as good as Costa or Drogba.

That's nothing. He made 40,000 Liverpool fans cry last year

Willian managed 4 goals and 4 assists last season (whilst being on corner duty as well). Moses managed 10 goals and 5 assists in less minutes.

So that's a no to proving where I might be wrong? Sorry, but if someone wanted to refute the points I made then I'm not so stubborn that I couldn't see the value in their contribution...but no-one has. Jose likes a certain type of player with a certain attitude. Does Lukaku fit that profile? Yes or No, it's as simple as that.

About what? Does it ever cross your mind to point out where I might be wrong? At the end of the day I generally trust the board and Jose. Selling Lukaku might've meant something to me 12 months ago, but he's pissed away a lot of the support he had here.

Unfortunately Lukaku asked for a transfer last season so couldn't establish himself. Your refusal to blame anyone accept him is wilful ignorance of the facts we have available. Lukaku is a good goalscorer, but Costa is better. Drogba is a better target man still at 36, has a better touch than Lukaku and is still better in the air. That is all good for tactical versatility. Torres is a busted flush, but he's still technically superior to Lukaku. Lukaku is a good goalscorer, but the Premier League is littered with strikers who scored goals for mid-table teams and couldn't make it at top teams. Demba Ba is a case in point. The people who think this is a mistake simply don't understand who Jose Mourinho is or what he expects from players. God knows what they actually think Mourinho respects in his lads but their lack of ability to understand the manager of the club they say their support is both mind-numbingly strange and hilarious.

You mean the supporters? Where do people like you get off criticising the supporters who turn up to matches they've spent their hard-earned money buying tickets for, just because they SUPPORT OUR FUCKING PLAYERS?? And they're 'yobs' apparently? Trying to endear yourself using British lingo? Wrong word. What doesn't make sense? He requested a transfer away from this club. He asked to leave. He said he didn't want to be here. In what universe does Jose Mourinho respect or appreciate that type of attitude?