The only place to be

Because Shaw costs more in both wages and transfer fees and might not actually be as good as Luis. Shaw is a MASSIVE gamble. Luis is less so. Well that's something we don't know yet. We could uncover another young gem in that time or even develop our own in-house. Again you're discounting the young players from making that step up which I'm not quite prepared to do yet. How purchasing Luis doesn't make sense I don't know. He's a good player. He's proven at the top-level and he costs quite a lot less than Shaw would. Don't get me wrong, I'd love for us to sign Shaw but it's a massively expensive gamble. Over the next couple of seasons we'd be set at left-back with Luis.

Say Luis is here for three years, then we can start blooding someone like Dasilva in his final year or look at other young prospects we might acquire. Or we might simply look to bring someone else in when Luis leaves. With the Tiago situation I think he gives us a safety net to maybe start blooding some of the youngsters from this upcoming season. Chalobah should be in the first team squad, Baker needs a loan in all likelihood and Loftus-Cheek could go either way.

I've heard rumours that Jay Dasilva (actually aged 16) has plans to 'age'. Quite a controversial move but he's hoping to be at least 18 in three years time, possibly pushing to be 19 if time allows. I don't know if you've heard of the Curious Case of Bejamin Button but apparently it's something like that, but in reverse. And you're correct that Aina has featured at left-back this season, as has Ake. Maybe the club think that a proven top-level player is a better bet right now than a gamble on a youngster.

How exactly do you know this? Do I think someone aged 19/20 could be our left-back? Good point. Definitely not. Quick let's buy Luke Shaw.

Bertrand and Van Aanholt are done. I was talking more about the guys coming through like Aina and Dasilva.

Rumours that Miranda is off to United too. That Atletico team is being decimated. As a short-term option then he fits what we need, a bit like the Tiago deal. Not expensive, immediate upgrade, fits the system and gives us a chance to develop some of the young guys.

HIs reported wages are £22,000 p/w less than Shaw's reported wages.

So we might be interested in a 25 year old talent with around 50 caps for his country who might be available on a free transfer from one of the best clubs in Europe?? Wow!! Great work there Daily Mail reporter. This summer I've decided to play a new game. Every time I see a link to a Mail transfer story I try and guess which numpty wrote it. What's sad is that I know the names of more than one Mail reporter....although when in doubt 'that cunt' is an acceptable nom de plume.

Luiz has gone, Lampard is out of contract and Mikel is barely a fringe player and linked with moves to Inter. Not sure how signing a 33 year old Tiago precludes us from involving young players next season.

Not going to have a discussion about this beyond saying that in my view he's a completely rounded midfielder rather than a conventional regista like Pirlo. But if the people who want a DLP see Tiago as being that then all power to them. You can enjoy his passing and I'll enjoy his ability to get from box to box and make tackles all day.

The manager of Chelsea will always be under massive pressure. There is no time that a player can come in and not be under pressure to succeed but there are ways of covering for them. We have one £21 million midfielder already and he is a nailed-on starter. If you buy another £30 million midfielder then that's both slots filled and any hope we have of bringing through youngsters is pretty much done. Tiago is a great safety net. Firstly he's an upgrade on almost every midfielder we have bar Matic. He knows this league, he knows this club, he knows the players - there's very little acclimatising to do. He comes from a system that is very similar to our's. He's technically sound and coped with the rigours of a title-winning team who made it to the final of the Champions League, and was a key player for them. I know some people think that we need to sign a DLP for our midfield otherwise we'll struggle to create chances, but I think that's probably slightly out of alignment with the view of the manager. We lost the league last year because we had no striker, in much the same way that United's strikers won them the league the year before. That's being addressed. If we can address depth issues with quality player who cost nothing and don't block the progress of young players (something that we all recognise the need to promote) then what's the issue?

I honestly don't think we need to spend massively in midfield this summer. Why not actually give our youngsters a chance to develop rather than signing a player for £30 million? The fact that one of the guys people want to buy is Pogba, a guy who left United because he wasn't getting chances just strikes me as odd. Instead of splurging on a player to player 40 games a season why not let Tiago play 20-odd games and give the rest to the yougsters? We were only 4 points off the title with Ramires and no striker last year.

Van Ginkel Chalobah Loftus-Cheek Colkett Boga Swift Ake Baker

Tiago is a much better option than Mikel all round. Mikel really is only useful in one type of situation and Tiago probably does that better anyway. If Van Ginkel and Chalobah are the young guys this year then who are the senior players? Ramires? Matic is still young himself and that leaves Lamps who may not stick around. A 33 year old whose last two games were the La Liga decider and the Champions League Final and who knows the club and the league and the manager could be a valuable commodity. Actually Roberts did and he's younger than Loftus-Cheek....and not as good. Yet. Loftus-Cheek is probably one of the best young talents around and is possibly ahead of where Pogba and Chaloba were at the same age. He could skip the loan process all together and go into the first-team squad.

Or competing with Van Ginkel, Chalobah, Ramires and Lampard for that spot. Not sure how this creates any less competition than signing someone like Pogba. Signing Pogba basically puts a 21 year old and a 25 year old ahead of all of our youngsters. Signing Tiago gives those youngsters a chance whilst also giving us a safety net in case they don't pan out.

Mikel and Torres have both been linked with Inter. Tiago might be more than a bench warmer. He wasn't that for La Liga champions and the team that knocked us out of the Champions League and he's free. He could be the player who pushed Ramires out of the first-team.

Kalas broke his leg so that was hardly Jose's fault. The Forest loan was a disaster, mainly because their manager was a twat but the Boro loan was a lot better. He simply shouldn't have been loaned to the Championship this season though and it would probably kill his career if it happened again next season. He needs to be playing and training with the first-team next year otherwise his career will irretrievably stall and I don't think anyone at the club wants to see that happen. He's too good for that, which is why I'd be surprised if he wasn't training with the club this summer and winning that spot.

What's Chelsea quality nowadays? Who is this 'new signing'? Mikel is looking like he's gone and he adds fuck all to our team so why wouldn't Tiago be better next season?

Jose has already said this would be his last season on loan and I've seen nothing to suggest that won't be the case. There is no reason to further loan him.

Tiago may well start a few games. He started a lot for Atletico and did pretty well in a system that is similar to our's so why not? Lamps started more than half our PL games last season so he could take those if Lamps left, whilst the younger guys could get the minutes that Mikel, Luiz and Ramires got. Buying a player under the age of 25 for £30 million+ to play alongside Matic is a great way to stop any young players coming though. Getting a 33 year old on a free is probably less so.

He's shit though. Offers absolutely nothing in a team that isn't looking to defend a lead or (urgh...) park the bus. Tiago is better defensively but also better going forward. Ramires can do a job in certain games although I wouldn't be too sad to see him leave. I disagree on the Chalobah thing though. If he impresses in the chances he gets then I think he's very much a Jose-type player. Physically strong, technically sound and Karanka has spoken highly of him. He just needs to apply himself over this summer.

I don't understand. Some people want to give youth a chance (which is fine) but also talk about us signing a £30 million+ midfielder?? If you want to give youngsters a chance then you have to do that whilst having a safety net if they struggle. Is Tiago on a one-year contract not perfect for that?

Lampard, Matic, Ramires, Tiago, Van Ginkel, Chalobah. Not going to please everyone but it's a decent selection.

Because they have no depth at that position. Sagna brings competition on a free transfer which is why his wages can be bumped up a bit.

Why, what has he said to you?