The only place to be

You look at their squad though and it's not surprising. There's absolutely no leaders in that dressing room and really it's a bunch of mercenary cunts. We at least had Didier, JT, Lamps, Ashley and Cech who all stepped up. Who have they got? Adebayor? Dawson? Lloris? That club is a right mess.

Kalas really was unlucky with the timing of his injury. Shame because he's looked good but hopefully he'll stick around next season especially if we lose Luiz. It means we can take more time with Zouma too. I think there's a few young guys who can all stake a claim in the summer for a spot in the squad. A lot of players will be involved with the world cup so the first few friendlies could see a lot more gametime for these young'uns. Best bets would probably be Kalas, Chalobah and maybe even Loftus-Cheek.

Great pick on Special Juan. Great poster, good guy, contributes well and should be a spot on choice. The other one..... If it had to be a Brazilian then Barbara was the best pick surely. Plus a female mod is probably what this forum needs. Thoughtful, articulate and fair-minded.

You can do both. In January we bought Matic, Zouma and Salah. Matic is very much for now, Zouma is one for the future and Salah is probably a bit of both. I think we'll continue looking to get in the best youngsters (Pasalic will come in the summer and I expect a few others) whilst buying players who will immediately improve us, the primary one being a striker. Ultimately it all comes down to value.

That's a good point. If they did lose him then they could struggle next year and that's a tough place to come in as a young player, especially without key men like Lallana and Rodriguez (injured for 6 months minimum). But if they can keep that solid defence and midfield and add a bit of quality up top then it could be the best spot in the league. I think the Hazard surname will open a few doors and he's got the performances to back it up, so any team looking for a bit of quality up the pitch on the cheap could be interested. You could even look at teams like Stoke or West Ham as teams who are looking to play better football and are in relatively comfortable positions. West Ham did have limited success with Morrison.

Joke shop club. Of course they'd be interested in Oscar but so would most top teams. The good news for us is that if we are looking to move Luiz on then maybe we can get a bidding war going between Barca and PSG.

They have Barkley. If you're looking for a team with a possible need in that position who give young players a chance then Southampton could be that team. Lallana is possibly on his way and Ramirez has never really impressed. Low pressure, financial issues and not the worst team in the world to forge a relationship with.

It's just lazy journalism. Roman has never gone to every game and that's probably got something to do with him being a billionaire businessman....and a father....and the owner of a massive fucking yacht that looks better in Barbados than in Chelsea Harbour. Even the author concedes that Jose has next season to improve which has been his stated target ever since he arrived at the club. Last year we finished 14 points off the leaders, this year it will hopefully be 4. There's progress being made but it's always easier to be the guy moaning about shit.

ACL repairs don't work like that. At this point his repaired tendon will almost certainly be healed and there's no reason to think he'd have an issue with it. He needs playing time and more than anything else, he deserves it.

Actually what I said was thatI don't think the negativity that some people continually express on here is something I recognise in the atmosphere around this club this season. That doesn't mean I think people who disagree with me aren't Chelsea supporters. Supporters disagree with one other all the time. But I think there's a particularly pernicious negativity in many threads that doesn't resemble what I've experienced this year supporting this club. I actually think there's a fantastic sense of optimism amongst the vast majority of supporters after this season. But if you think I'm wrong about that then that's fine.

Because he's very close to full match-fitness and he is no more likely to re-injure his knee than a player with no history of ACL trouble is. What risk do you think there is?

An option, but he's set to go to Real Madrid isn't he? A bidding war with them doesn't sound like much fun. Look, I've said pretty much all I'm gonna say about this deal. It's not the most exciting one, it isn't Modric, it isn't Gundogan, it isn't Alonso but based on what I understand about the club then I'm prepared to wait and see and trust the manager's judgment. A lot depends on his price and the rest depends on Jose turning him into the player Spurs thought they were getting. But once again, this forum has 6 or 7 people who just shit on the club and circle jerk one another. That's fine, it's the internet but it's amazing how little resemblance they bear to the optimism and hope that's actually around this club. I come here to talk about Chelsea with Chelsea supporters, not the miserable sods who seemingly infest every thread nowadays.

Honestly it seems like the same 6 or 7 faces are constantly popping up to deride anything the club does. This is not a ball-tingler of a deal and I don't think anyone is saying it is, but it seems like plenty of us have enough faith in the club to simply wait and see what happens here. Any transfer fees at this point are purely speculative as well so it's impossible to tell exactly what type of value we'd be getting. Remember when the Matic deal was first being mooted - fees of €40 million were being chucked around. Despite what some might have you believe, our club isn't staffed by idiots. The reason we're talking about one midfielder being needed is because the current guys already signed Matic for a bargain price. Last year we signed Van Ginkel as well, and he needs a chance this year. Then you've got Chalobah and Loftus-Cheek a little below that who are some of the brightest prospects of their generation. Now of course there's an argument that we could sign other players for more, but who? Is Modric available as one miserable soul suggested? No. Even if he was he's in a whole other transfer demo. Vidal? Probably not. Cabaye? No. Kovacic? Another young-un who needs developing. Pogba? United were told no. Kroos? Wages are at least double and I'm not entirely sure he fits what we want. Again, no-one is saying that this guy is a dead cert to be the player we need, but it is unfair to judge him solely by this season. To me he seems like a more intelligent Ramires, but he can also look ponderous on the ball and a little lacking in cojones. He has tremendous upside if Levy actually sells him for a realistic price and he's not a massive financial burden to us long-term and in that regard he could be likened to Guarin. Mourinho backs himself to get the absolute most out of his players though and I think with guys like Guarin and Paulinho who have a lot of technical and physical gifts, it's like a red rag to a bull.

No, but I'm going to try and understand it in the context of our financial model and put some trust in Jose that he's seen something in this guy that he can utilise. You can stick to your bashing with your 6 or 7 friends but I'm going to hold fire until I know more about the deal and see what he brings to this team. Again, patience. Firstly, I do think he's an upgrade and is better at making those simple passes which Ramires can struggle with. There's also the added goal threat from deep. Now the financial aspect. Who is this top class midfielder that we could buy? Does he have a name or have you and Styles both misplaced it? Is it Modric like your friend lionsden suggested? Also I think it's massively simplistic to not look at the other areas we need to spend in, not just now but in the future as well as the fact that we have a fair amount of young talent either looking to start next year and beyond. But that's just me....I actually want to give some of the young players a chance. Paulinho doesn't seem to have any other suitors and has been marginalised in the last few months. Levy is a cunt but he needs to invest in that Spurs team to get the fans off his back and a £20 million hood ornament isn't exactly a useful thing to keep around. Maybe we're looking to ship Ramires on. But now you want to give young players a go?? A minute ago you wanted us to sign a mysterious unnamed player who would be an immediate starter. How about you make a value signing who upgrades your position in the short-term for a modest cost in the prime of his playing days and who still has value in the market a few years down the line, kinda like a Meireles-type signing?? Does that make sense in any way? And I reiterate that I'm prepared to see how this plays out in the context of our other dealings before writing him off completely. Patience innit blood.

So again, very little constructive in that post. I think the fact that he's more composed on the ball and is a goal threat immediately makes us a better team going forward. I think he's able to spread the play better whilst also providing an extra body in the box - two of the problems I have with our midfield. I also think he fits our financial model well, he offers value whether he works out here or not and he's not a massive impediment to any young players looking to break through. The simple fact is that you're moaning without providing anything else. Ideally I'd like to see Chalobah and Van Ginkel (and longer term RLC) groomed to take a role at this club and that requires giving them a chance....so of course we should invest massively on a player whose name you can't quite recall at this time. It's laughable. The people who moan about us not giving youth a chance are now moaning because we're not investing £30 million in a player who would provide a significant impediment to them getting a chance. Feel free to randomly pluck a player's name out of your arse who you actually would prefer us to sign - ignore things like transfer fee and wages. Just kidding....as if I need to tell you that.

He's more composed and consistent on the ball than Ramires and he's better at finding space in the box. I'm not saying he's the next Lampard but I'm simply trying to be constructive and look at this transfer within the context of REALITY. I'm sure 6 or 7 people will find something to moan about with this transfer before we know how much he costs and what he actually does for us on the pitch, and that's the same with a lot of transfers. But we need somebody alongside Matic and Paulinho is potentially an upgrade on Luiz, Mikel and Ramires in that role if he reaches his potential. And slagging off signings when you don't actually have anything constructive to say is equally laughable. But hey, why change the one-note when you've become so good at playing it?

I'd say we're almost certainly losing Mikel and Luiz so we need to replace them with guys who are in their prime. Van Ginkel, Chalobah, RLC - they're the future but they're young so need time. Lamps is going to be 36. That leaves just Matic and possibly Ramires in their 'prime years' so why not go for a guy who knows the league but is possibly undervalued because he's had a poor year in a poor team with two poor managers? Some people need to introduce themselves to FFR - Financial Fucking Reality. We need a striker this year and we need to remodel the squad not just this year, but next year. You can't just buy every top player in the world. Paulinho to me is a nice squad player on decent wages. He earns less than half the wages some outlets are reporting for Kroos and is probably going to cost about a third of what Vidal would cost. And if it doesn't work out, he's still only going to be 27-28 which means he has residual value in the market should we decide to sell. There's also no financial reason to keep on playing him like we do with a certain Spanish 'striker'. So you have a player who is undervalued, has tremendous upside and isn't actually likely to be that expensive (although that is the key point in all this - cost). Therefor it makes sense to throw in someone like Modric's name - a player who would cost at least double in transfer fees, double in wages and oh....isn't available.

I've thought to myself we need a midfielder and I'm sure the club have thought the same. Like I said without knowing the price and the plans for Rami, Mikel and Luiz then it's hard to say it's an idea without merit. Kroos, Martinez, Pogba, Vidal....all these players would likely cost double what Paulinho's market value right now would be.

Fucking timing mate. It's 1/2 on Skybet now.

Surely that depends on the price. If Spurs are willing to cut their losses then maybe he's worth a punt. To me he seems like a Ramires with better technique, a better eye for goal and less...impulsive (<--- code word for 'a bit thick'). Considering we could be losing Luiz, Mikel and maybe even Lamps and Rami, we're going to need midfielders.

United have Mata and Rooney who operate in that 10 role and are far better than Lallana. Everton probably couldn't afford him and Spurs....well fuck know's what Spurs will do. I rate Eriksen higher than him. Lallana going to Liverpool is a bizarre one though. He's not a 'moneyball' purchase by any means. He's likely to be overpriced because he's had a great season and he's English and his value will only drop in all likelihood. I think he's one of those players who is in the perfect situation at a club where the expectations are low and the team is built around him. He's a skilful, talented player but I don't think he's much more than that which is why he reminded me of Leonhardsen going from Wimbledon to Liverpool. Big fish in small pond goes to bigger pond and just disappears over the course of a couple of seasons. I'll say it now - if he goes to Liverpool in the summer then in 2 years he'll either be on loan or sold to someone like Aston Villa.

No. We absolutely need to rotate which is why we need CBs that Jose can trust - not David Luiz. Wow, that's a strong position to take and I admire your unwavering faith in your analytical skills and....oh wait, there's more . Oh....right....this is awkward. Um....

To me he's Oyvind Leonhardsen or Charlie Adam. Looks a star in a smaller team but put him in a stronger team and he's merely a good player.

I do agree in principle, but he's on so much and he probably has so little value right now that it's a risk we probably need to take. Best case scenario is that we reduce his cost to us in wages next year by half (£3-4 million is a lot to a club who were only in profit in 2012 by £1.4 million) and then sell him next season. If he goes for £10 million next year then he cancels out his amortised FFP figure for that season and saves us potentially £7-8 million in wages meaning we're saving over £15 million in 2015-16.

I'd have said the archetypal Mourinho players are people like Lamps, JT and Drogba, none of whom I'd call dumb. Everyone knows Lamps is highly intelligent, whilst Drogba is certainly not 'dumb' based on what he's accomplished in his home country. Even JT has been spoken of as having a good regard for the tactical side of the game and being a possible future manager. His reading of the game is phenomenal as well. In fact at Porto and Inter he had intelligent players that I don't think deserve to be called dumb. Paulinho isn't technically average either, and he's shown an ability to not only make intelligent passes, but make late runs into the box a little like Lamps. But to be fair lionsden did once say Rio Ferdinand lacked pace as a younger player.