The only place to be

Luis? He'll be 29 and he's proven at the top level. I'd like to see us develop a few of the youngsters like Kalas and Zouma next season so we could do with a bit more experience whilst giving time to a few of the other young lads in the academy.

That's a fair point, but the club have said they want to bring through their own youngsters...punting £30 million plus £100K wages (more than Terry, Cahill, Matic, Azpi and even Lamps are reported to be on) just doesn't fit our model.

How good could Jay Dasilva be in your opinion?

This has got to be the most bizarre story of the transfer window so far, but there's absolutely no chance of us getting him. This all seems to be engineered to get him a move to Barcelona. Bluemoon is in meltdown too. Literally less than two weeks after winning the league title and one of their best players has come out with this...what a cunt. Hilarious but still, come on. http://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=301818&start=2510

Dom Solanke and Izzy Brown should both feature in the u17 Final against the Netherlands this evening. The match is on Eurosport here in the UK and coverage starts about 17:30 ish.

You can wear it with a tie and look all fancy, or you can pop it up and pretend it's 1994 again. :tophat: FYI http://www.sportsdirect.com/football-shirts/premier-league-football-shirts/chelsea-football-shirts Sports Direct are actually selling the shirts this year despite there being some reports that they wouldn't (presumably linked to them discounting all our kit last year). £10 off rrp but delivery....obviously doesn't apply to their jumble sales in store.

I actually would've agreed with this a few weeks ago, but three years is a long-time. Filipe Luis is a very good player and would be a step up for our (already strong) defence whilst costing half of what Shaw would and probably being on lower wages too. He's much less of a gamble than Shaw, which of cause means the rewards could be lower but so would the risks. 3-4 years also gives us time to develop our own youngsters in that position to be the 'next Luke Shaw' if you will. Whilst I'd love for us to get Shaw, there's always more than one way to get young English talent in the ranks.

Pretty much this. The type of commitment to Shaw is a massive hit on the annual finances not just this year, but the next 3 years (the amortised transfer fee would reduce after he signed a new contract around this time) and if his wages start at £100k p/w as an 18 year old then what on Earth will he expect at 22? If we went for someone like Filipe Luis then we're probably stronger as a team in the short-term. The reason many of us were so keen on Shaw was that LB seemed to be a position we weren't exactly stuffed with in the academy ranks. Now we seem to have a couple of really promising youngsters in Aina and Dasilva who are maybe 2-3 years away from consideration for the first team, whilst Ake has also been deployed at left-back this year. It puts a £30 million (plus wages) gamble on an 18 year old into context, when we could get the left-back of the Spanish league Champions (and potentially the Champions League winners) for roughly HALF of that.

I won't comment on the way the article is written because the young boy's first language clearly isn't English, but I don't think it says anything new or revolutionary. Cahill is a limited defender, Luiz is 'pro-active' in intercepting the ball higher up the pitch and looks to make more ambitious passes from the back which apparently add an extra dimension to our attack. He makes cursory allusions to our need for a more clinical striker and to Luiz's concentration levels in games which fits a certain type of 'article' about Luiz. Ultimately it's a case of stating the obvious. Luiz is capable of being one of the best defenders in the world in the right system, on his day.

The guy who wrote that used to post here regularly, often about how indispensable Mikel was to the team.

Ivanovic, Ferreira, Azpi, Cole, Del Horno, Gallas. I actually meant to say if we could get Luis then we'd have time to develop a young-un like Aina, Ake or DaSilva.

Easy with the compliments, you'll make him blush. Good point. Bertrand and Van Aanholt are both unique snowflakes, not good enough for us in their own ways.

First and foremost, especially in a Mourinho system, they're defenders. If you can't stop the guy in front of you then you won't make it at the top level - as Van Aanholt will prove. The thing is the desperation to get Shaw was based on us not really having anyone coming through. If we can get someone like DaSilva then maybe we can look to develop an Ake or a DaSilva or even Aina.

Spot on. Lamps held together that midfield at points in the season, mainly before we signed Matic. If you look at our defenders then we have a very nice spread of ages from older guys like JT (33) to guys in their prime (Cahill, Ivanovic) to guys approaching their prime (Azpi) to young guns (Ake, Kalas, Zouma). That simply isn't the case in midfield and there's also the point that Lamps could be a coach too.

This pertains to your comments on Van Aanholt and Rodriguez. Left-backs are first and foremost defenders. I think Nathan Ake probably has more chance of starting a game at left-back for Chelsea than Van Aanholt does.

And that's my point. Shaw is actually capable of putting in good crosses and looks solid defensively, but it's the composure that he does everything with that sets him apart. That's why I'd have him over Rodriguez even if he costs a bit more. I think Rodriguez would get found out defensively. Cole is the benchmark. You're more than welcome to think that and I agree he looks fantastic going forward in the Bundesliga. I just have reservations over his ability to replicate it here.

When people think of Rodriguez, I'm sure they're just imagining him making overlapping runs for Hazard. That's all well and good but the defining image of Ashley Cole for me is him stifling Ronaldo at Old Trafford. What I like about Shaw is that he seems more than capable of doing both. Although if he does join United I retain the right to renounce all comments about him, referring to him only as a gloryhunting cunt and will immediately be moving the hype train to the tracks marked 'JAY DASILVA COUNTRY'. On that note, Jay Dasilva is only two and a bit years younger than Shaw. Sign Luis, blood Dasilva and then let him take Shaw's spot in the England squad.

227 games. That's how many matches Bertrand's featured in and he's never really done anything exceptional. Even at Villa he's looked meh. Van Aanholt looks good going forward against weaker teams who leave spaces because they lack a lot of tactical rigidity. He could surprise everyone and be a good option for us but personally I think he'd get bullied way too easily and found out defensively. The simple fact is that no-one really gave a stuff about Rodriguez at 18. It's an incredible achievement in itself that Shaw is where he is, two months shy of his 19th birthday. He's composed, technically very good for his age but he also has a maturity on the pitch which is mightily impressive. That to me is what is most impressive about watching him week-in and week-out. Rodriguez is a great attacking full-back but for the amount of money being bandied about for him, there are serious concerns over his ability to stay focused for 90 minutes.

Van Aanholt has looked ok in a weaker league, yet he can also be dodgy defensively. Nice player but even when we're playing against teams who sit deep we need players who can defend. That's the reality of the Premier League. Rodriguez isn't miles ahead. He's got better stats going forward but let's not pretend that he isn't as big a risk as Shaw is, especially as he's not immune from the odd lapse in concentration himself. Defensively there are big questions about how he'd handle this league in my opinion and he's hardly going to be cheap. He's still a young player who needs developing and testing in a stronger league.

Because those clubs don't have Azpilicueta?

No, he has two years left. http://www.chelseafc.com/news-article/article/3030470/title/ba-transfer-completed

Van Aanholt is 5 years older than Shaw and has had plenty of chances to impress. Has he ever shown anything special? It's the same argument about Bertrand to be honest. Rodriguez doesn't strike me as being any further along than Shaw to be honest, despite being 3 years older. That depends a lot on the price, although he racks up stats nicely.

Big if though. I'd love to see him here and watch him develop over the next decade but it's a massively risky deal. Would love for him to force the move here on lower wages, but football's a business at the end of the day. United are desperate and he's one of the few marquee signings that they can actually get. If Southampton have got any sense they'll drag it out and let Woodward fuck it up like he did with the Fellaini deal.

Harsh. Think we're perfectly capable of winning the league with Azpi at left-back and Ivanovic at right-back. The latest rumour is that Ashley was offered a contract but on severely reduced wages and combined with the lack of playing time he simply wasn't interested which is fair enough. JT accepted his pay cut and Lamps is apparently mulling his options over which also include his wife's media career. All rumours though.

Still amazed that a young Chelsea supporter who lives so close to Cobham with his talent won't end up here. That price though and the wages. Doesn't sound too happy about the situation with the youth coaches being let go, which you wouldn't really expect to hear from someone with plans to stick around. Gutted for doddsy and Willo, helped me a lot in my development over the years, wish them all the best in their carers