The only place to be

A 35 year old?? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Lampard Supporters form emotional attachments to players. Football is actually a pretty pointless exercise but it's the connections we make to the club, to the players that actually give it meaning. It's not just about points on a table. I'm not saying that Frank leaving wasn't the right move for both parties but signing Fabregas?? People are going to be reticent.

Such a cunt and not in the same way as Costa. Embodies everything I despise about both Arsenal and Barcelona which is an impressive achievement. He's Barcelona through and through with the dirty stink of Woolwich all over him. Perfect for City who love their Arsenal cast-offs but seeing him in our blue....unlikely.

He was still able to contribute last season and put in some fantastic performances (anyone saying he lost his legs should watch the Liverpool game) so it's a real shame if this is true because a player-coach role would've been fantastic. An absolute legend at this club though and if he does go into semi-retirement in the US then you have to wish him the best and respect the class with which he has one this. A major market and I'll follow whatever he does with genuine interest. Could go into coaching, could have a great media career or could just retire and enjoy his property portfolio (which is considerable). The club need to handle this properly though. He needs a proper send-off and the rumour of a match against Bolton is fitting. Needs a statue too....a fuck-off big one and all the shit that goes with that. But he's absolutely one of the greatest players I've ever seen and one of the best people to have played for this club. That penalty after his mother passed showed the mettle of the man and was one of the few moments that sport has brought me to tears. To do that, in that match....incredible. A truly great player and a true gentleman.

A good argument for signing Shaw, but then you say.... Isn't that the argument against signing Shaw for £30 million?

Lambert is mediocre perhaps, but he'll score goals and he'll create chances....for £4 million. The more I think about it, the more annoyingly good that transfer is. They'll get two years out of him and he'll score goals. I'd be more worried about them bringing him on against us than Aspas or Borini. Plus he's homegrown..... I honestly don't think you could get a better 3rd striker option in their situation. A very fine transfer move.

They've got Sturridge and Suarez....and Aspas. They've upgraded one area and they're going after Lovren too. Lallana adds a bit of depth to midfield as well. It's a nice few transfers, although I'm not expecting them to replicate this season's 'success'.

That Lambert signing could be a gamble that pays off. He's great with a dead ball, he doesn't miss penalties and he's a genuine aerial threat compared to Suarez and Sturridge. Look at how they failed to break us down when Plan A didn't work - he's a Plan B. Put it like this - if we go into the season with Costa and Lukaka, then I'd take him over Torres, Ba and Eto'o as third choice. Plus he's a Scouser so they're probably getting a hometown discount on the wages and if this fee is linked to the Lallana deal then it's a smart bit of business for Southampton too. Can't just look at the age with a player whose game has been about power, technique and strength in the air.

There seems to be a dearth of decent options. Apart from Coentrao who seems a bit of a long shot and probably expensive, the other options seem to be youngsters like Moreno, Shaw and Rodriguez none of whom is all that proven or cheap. It's not like we have an aversion to buying young players in that sweet spot of early-20s (Schurrle, Azpi, Hazard etc.) but there simply don't appear to be many out there. As it is we're probably getting the best one currently available. Sometimes it's too easy to get caught up in 'the future' (I'm probably as guilty of that as anyone) but two-three years is a long time. That's a lot of weekends, a lot of matches and a lot of matchday threads to post comments about how good Luis looks. If we get three years out of him then that's only 5 months less than we got out of David Luiz. It's a deceptively long period of time.

There are more appropriate places you could throw that. I'd say they've done brilliant work over the last few windows, maximising the amount of money we make from transferring unwanted players whilst identifying targets quickly and getting players for good prices on the whole. Compared to how we used to do business it's a marked improvement, but I think you're setting your standards way too high and quite frankly unrealistically. In the real world, people make mistakes. It happens, it's how you recover from them that matters. It's interesting that you think optimism is clutching at straws. Why not wait until something happens until you start moaning about it.

In recent years? How recent? Since the summer of 2011 they've not done too bad, learning their lessons from the Torres transfer. I'd love for you to explain how buying one of the best left-backs around will 'fuck up their good work'. We conceivably go into next season with a top class striker and a top class left-back, immediately upgrading two of the trouble positions in a team that only finished four points off the top spot. When you talk about 'good work' you also have to look at the club in it's entirety and the work they do in the academy. We have the Dutch-u21 left-back who has played in more European competitions than Luke Shaw, captained our youth and reserve teams and was actually promoted to the first-team squad when we let Ryan Bertrand leave. Part of our new philosophy seems to be to promote young players so maybe we don't need to gamble £30 million plus wages on Shaw. Maybe we can get by with a top-class left-back and give the youngsters a chance.

Shaw's a good young player who will hopefully have a good future. Luis is better at the moment though. You might want to try saying what you mean then because otherwise it just seems like you're one of those people who moans about 'the board' for the sake of it. You talk as if our board has a bad recent record which they really don't. Azpi was better than him. Baines also had a fabulous season.

Because buying one of the form left-backs in Europe last season is stupid?

Possibly, but the other way to look at it is that it's better to spend £20 million on a proven commodity than £30 million (+ an extra £1 million in wages) on an unproven yet still promising option whilst looking to develop your own talent. I'd love for Shaw to come in and be that guy we all hope he can be but it's a big risk and those figures are insane. £100k p/w at 18 makes me wonder what he'll want at 26.

Well Ake was promoted to the squad when Bertrand went out on loan and he's been playing a fair bit at left-back. The fact is that we could buy the left-back of La Liga champions and Champions League finalists for less money and less wages than we'll get Shaw. He's a massive gamble no matter which way you slice it.

I have absolutely no idea what people base these notions on. When's the last time we sold a player we wanted to keep? Luiz was unwanted. Mata was unwanted. Robben was unwanted. People need to stop worrying needlessly.

Get decent cover in and incorporate the youth. Our chances of success aren't dependent on signing Pogba. Just like Pogba at United.

Yep, looks in good knick and will get a whole summer to get fit. Really hope he can hit the ground running and contribute in a way he wasn't able to last year.

But still at some point they need to be given a chance, just like Pogba was. Spending such an inflated fee on a player when you might have homegrown alternatives just seems a bit unnecessary.

Traore probably won't and Baker should go on loan because whilst he's a nice player, I think he lacks that top, top class composure and touch. I hope he proves me wrong though. I'm talking more about the likes of Van Ginkel, Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek, possibly even Ake. Those are 22, 19 and 18 year olds and we're talking about signing a guy who is only 21 and was essentially let go by United.

Real Madrid were amassing Galacticos almost a decade before we signed Torres. I'm amazed that in a Pogba thread people so readily write off our youngsters. It is funny.

Luiz is an anomaly. Fuck know's what went on there but I seriously doubt he's the new normal. I'm simply amazed that people are so disparaging of our young players and simply want to buy success. That seems like such a cold, emotionless way to follow football.

I'm not entirely convinced both will get any loans. Chalobah doesn't need another loan to the Championship and I'm not 100% convinced Loftus-Cheek will be. Not for €65 million. Courtois didn't cost that. Lukaku didn't cost that. Oscar didn't cost that. Schurrle didn't cost that. Salah didn't cost that. No-one i doubting his ability but the price is just so far beyond the pale.

I wasn't going to say you sound cynical.

But don't you want to see us produce another John Terry? Surely you remember how you felt when he came into the team, don't you?

The academy doesn't really make money. I think you're confusing that with our tactic of buying young players and loaning them which is partly to make money. The academy covers it's costs and that's about it. So how much should we sell Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek for?