petre.ispirescu

Everton get Rooney back on a free and United keep paying most part of his wages for the next couple of seasons. And still the fee is 75m reaching 90m after "easily achievable add-ons" (as per today's The Times). He'd have been my 1st choice here won't deny this but even I can agree it's a silly amount of money. United had a leverage also in Rooney. Conte's 1st choice or not, this sum is complete madness.

Those bashing the board every day getting cocky now...... Its like they want a dreadful summer window to be proved right on a fans forum rather than a successful one to benefit us all....

Everton have already spent like they never did before and Rooney is set to join by the end of the week too. Sandro Ramirez and Rooney that's two forwards already and Everton today have made a 40m offer for Benfica's Raul Jimenez. Ok it's just a bid for now but it shows Everton are interested into bringing another centre forward. Don't you think Lukaku, Rooney and Sandro would be enough if Lukaku was to stay there? Everton are in no position to have 4 quality forwards in their squad knowing they are playing a one centre forwards tactics. One has to make room and that's 100% Lukaku if you ask me.

Does not necessarily have to be made official to confirm the obvious. There is plenty of solid sources for me to believe 100% that Rudiger, Bakayoko and Lukaku are already Chelsea players. And Alex Sandro to some extent although it'll take time but I'm sure he'll end up as a Chelsea player in the end. It's just that some clubs need to secure their replacements before letting players go. And I truly believe that these 5 players are not the only ones we're looking at and we're going to be linked with at least one or two more players in the coming weeks (centre back and maybe another attacker).

Fucking hell I swear some of you need to get a fucking grip and stop moaning like fucking bitches all day long. Club has signed a quality backup GK already and three other deals look to be wrapped up and ready to be announced anytime soon - Lukaku, Bakayoko, Rudiger - while pushing hard every day for probably worlds 2nd best left back only after Madrid's Marcelo - Alex Sandro. Bakayoko and Rudiger are worst kept secrets in football and if Everton going bonkers as we speak spending 100m on transfers already is not an indication that Lukaku's gone then I don't know what it is. And if you thought that a deal for Alex Sandro would be done and dusted in one day then hold your fucking horses because this sort of massive transfers do not work like that. It's Juventus they are negociating with, not Brentford. Quality added to an already league winning squad, all this while keeping our best players and selling irrelevant squad/loaned players for almost 130m.

United have a buy back clause on Depay too.

Don't rate this guy at all, actually think he's dumb as fuck, but I'm not worried either because I'm sure he's taking Ake's place in the squad. Decent to have on the bench? Maybe. First team quality? Not in a million years.

Solid, modern, ball playing centre back, tall and athletic, maybe the reported amount a tad high for what we're used to, but frankly we can't penny pinch anymore for all the Rudigers and Cahills out there. It's a transfer window where transfer amounts should be of no interest for us the fans, thankfully there is a lot of money at the club coming from players sale, sponsorships etc. We're coming of a title winning campaign and have a proven manager in charge. We can attract players and learn from the mistakes of the past (summer of 15/16). At the same time I truly wish Conte would give Christensen a chance because had he not been Chelsea's player I bet we'd be quoted everyday with 40m+ bids for him. My ideal back line for next season would be Alex Sandro - van Dijk David Luiz Christensen - Azpilicueta. Three modern centre backs that are all comfortable with the ball at their feet and can build from the back and two quality full backs, one is some of the best left full backs in the world and another is probably the most consistent defender for the past seasons in England. Azpilicueta maybe not the best going forward, but he can work on that given his nature and attitude, to always work hard and improve.

At least now we can all agree that all this "Conte vs the board" is complete rubbish coming from the butthurt media. Juventus' president or team manager or whatever the fuck he is basically said "Yeah this offer is too good, convince him and he's yours." Don't know the actual numbers, but if offering 55+ million for a full back when other talented attacking players go for less is not a sign of intent from the board and proof that they are backing Conte, then I don't know what it is...

LOL at the City shorts.... But the shirts look nice to be fair. Me like the darker tone of blue.

Looks like he's enjoying life playing with world's best players in the Chinese super league of football haha. I could go to England and earn 5 times the amount of what I am currently earning in Romania. And i'm not talking about moving from 400 Euros to 2000 Euros a month. It's way bigger than that. But my life would be boring and lack any substance. My father once said - no matter how bad your country is, at least here you're always going to feel real. People will feel you like you're one of their own and you will feel others as being one of your. But elswhere you are always going to be a stranger, a guest in their country. It's similar to football players. Real football is in Europe and South America. Not China, not USA, not Australia.

Similar to mine - Caballero, Lukaku, Bakayoko, James, Alex Sandro and a new CB (preferably Koulibaly, Van Dijk or any other TOP CB). Christensen back will feel like a new transfer. Now let's put it this way - winter transfer window Chelsea have sold Oscar (60m) and Bamford (6m) without getting any player in. That's 66m. In the last weeks we've seen Cuadrado (17m), Begovic (10m), Atsu (6m) go with Bertrand Traore's transfer to Lyon (17m) to be confirmed soon. That's another 50m. In total £116m on bench/loaned players. That wishlist is of course worth close to £250m, but if the club can't add an extra £120-130m on top of that £116m (that's basically easy money coming from unwanted players) then I don't know what to think... And to be honest, £120-130m in today's market is a pretty decent amount for a big club like Chelsea considering United and City are going to spend close to £250m from their own pocket without selling much. And that amount (£120-130m) could easily go down to close to £100m should some of Remy, Van Ginkel, Baba Rahman, Kalas, Omeruo, Piazon, Hector are sold, too.

If Chelsea is truly interested and manages to pull this off, then I for one have absolutely no doubts in my mind that Conte has already decided that next season 3-4-3 is not the only tactics he's going to use and we're going to see a four man defence in lots of matches. Champions League final was there for everyone to see that a three man defence is vulnerable against top teams with quality full backs that bomb forward with ease. Basically you totally give up on wide areas (Marcelo and Carvajal had a field day) and at the same time allow central areas to be suffocated (Isco and Ronaldo came inside, together with Modric, Kroos and Casemiro, creating a 5v4 against Pjanic, Khedira and the two defending wingers Dybala and Mandzukic that were dragged inside, leaving Marcelo and Carvajal 1on1 with the full backs). Alex Sandro not only is one of the best left backs in the world, but he's also one of the few that can effectively play as a left wing back,too, providing the same quality. Huge amount rumoured for a left back I agree, but he's totally worth it. As for the RB/Right wing back position, I've seen people wondering why there's no links to new players to replace Moses, but I think that Conte sees Azplicueta as his preferred option there in a four man defence. And to be fair, it would not be a wonder for me if Azpilicueta starts at right wing back position,too, in a five man defence next season should Conte get his CB targets in (One top CB will join IMHO). The way I see it now, it's: Alex Sandro - new CB - David Luiz - Azpilicueta in a four man defence. Alex Sandro - new CB/Cahill/Christensen - David Luiz - new CB(if one)/Cahill/Christensen - Azpilicueta in a five man defence. My preference would be to bring in one top CB (Koulibaly, Van Dijk etc.) and slot in Christensen when playing a five man defence (Alex Sandro - new CB - David Luiz - Christensen - Azpilicueta).

Really thought we're in for him. What a shame. Can't be blamed though, the same way Bonucci would probably choose Chelsea over City because of Conte, the same way Alves has made his choice and it's Guardiola, someone he has worked and has a good relationship with.

I smell a lot of bullshit and a lot of (football) people afraid of Conte staying at Chelsea for many years. Chelsea is not Brentford, the board has a clear plan, if no deal has been announced so far does not mean the club is not actively working on future targets. Sick of trash media trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. They're still in denial after last season when their darlings United and Liverpool did not even put up a fight and the highly anticipated United v City battle for the title was a lost cause from day one.

Hes on £48,000 per week at juventus. Chelsea could easilly afford to triple that and should. Hes up there with the best full backs in the world. But I dont think hes going to hand in a transfer request.

GOSSIP = No Chelsea news lately?! Ok let's make something up - So they've made no transfers so far. "Conte unhappy" sounds like a good title then. Will report it as "GOSSIP" so people would not become suspicious. Type, type, type. Print. Move on to the next one.

R1 - Burnley at home R2 - Spurs away R3 - Everton at home (International break - two weeks) R4 - Leicester away CL Group Stage Round 1 R5 - Arsenal at home R6 - Stoke away CL Group Stage Round 2 R7 - Man City at home (International break - two weeks) Must avoid a slow start and a Mourinho 15/16 like pre-season & transfer strategy. If there is clear targets the club has in mind, then they must act before it's too late and allow Conte to have a proper pre-season. Don't know if there will be any friendlies scheduled before our match against Arsenal in Beijing (July 22nd), but I wish to arrive at that point with maybe at least 80-85% of our business in the transfer market resolved for Conte to have the transfers at this disposal for the Arsenal, Bayern and Inter Milan matches.

Madrid have won three UCL titles in the last four years, two of them on the bounce. League title this season too. Clearly there is no more pressure to deliver and the perfect time for them to introduce new names in an ageing squad. They have made Isco and Asensio non transferable, but not Morata who is Madrid through and through and has Benzema as direct competitor who is turning 30 in a few months. Why is that? Why is Madrid letting a local lad go so easy if he's that good? Morata's goal scoring record is piss poor compared to Lukaku's. As a matter of fact there is a lot of other bang average centre forwards out there with a better goal scoring record than him. This season he's scored 15 goals against complete dross Leganes, La Coruna, Gijon, Alaves etc. and featured only before and after important matches when regulars were rested. Always find it funny how people would take Morata or Belotti (who by the way nobody has heard of before last season) over a proven EPL centre forward and Chelsea fan who is like 10 goals short of reaching 100 EPL goals at only 24 years old.

Kante, Bakayoko AND another technically gifted midfielder (Cesc, Verratti, etc etc) in a midfield three = Yes. Kante, Bakayoko in a midfield two = recipe for disaster IMHO. They'd be chasing shadows all game long against a decent pair of midfielders.

Thing is people forget Leicester's title winning campaign and his performance in that particular season. He was brilliant then, Robben-esque in my view. Similar to Chelsea's disastrous season, one can not turn from great to dog turd in the blink of an eye. There must be a reason why he's lost his motivation and hunger. Best example is Chelsea's squad - from 10th to league champions under the right guidance. Mahrez was a joy to watch that season and his trickery was something else. Really feel Conte would take him to the next level. A guy that wins a record breaking EPL campaign with a Victor Moses and Marcos Alonso as the first choice full backs and Cahill and David Luiz in defence can't do any wrong with a player like Mahrez. Also I'm on the opinion that every team should have a good left footed player in their team. You look at all the very big teams out there - Messi, Bale, Robben, Dybala. Then on a lesser scale there is Dortmund's Dembele, City's Silva & Sane (now Bernardo Silva), Di Maria, Monaco's Lemar (they had Bernardo Silva, too). Others, too(Douglas Costa, James, etc) won't name all. Bottom line is that you are always going to find a very good/decent left footed player in every big team. Mahrez might not be a world beater, but I'd have him here to be honest. Atmosphere is exceptional and Conte is a wonderful manager - pretty sure Mahrez would replicate that title winning season should his confidence hits sky high levels again. Looking back at that season I remember the nutmeg on Hazard - made Eden look like a pub player. Took on league's best player and nutmeged him like he wasn't even there - this is what confidence brings out a player.

Should be nowhere near the starting line-up come next season, but would not sell him to United either. Bet Mourinho would show us the middle finger even if we are to offer 120M for Martial, don't see why the other way around should be different.

Agree, very good player and a better option than Bakayoko. Be nice if Cesc would be kept, too, especially if Conte wants to play a three man midfield at times. Kante-Cesc-Tolisso would offer a nice platform of both work rate and ability on the ball with Tolisso and Cesc two very good passers of the ball. Our midfield would no more be under constant pressure when facing teams with a decent set of midfielders. Would also love if we could enquire about Lacazette, too, while we're at it. Especially now with Atletico banned from making any signings. Lacazette looked Atletico bound prior to today. Also Diego Costa looks as he's staying now, our best centre forward w/o a shadow of a doubt, but would be very risky to go into next season with one proven centre forward only. He needs solid competition and also a 3-5-2 (again, if Conte plans to use it from time to time) looks damn good with a pairing of Lacazette and Diego Costa. Heard Lyon are looking into getting Zouma and Bertrand Traore. This would make for an easier business when dealing with Lyon.

Wasn't everyone creaming all over City's signings last summer? Gundogan "one of world's best midfielders if fit", Stones "best ball playing centre back since Beckenbauer", Sane "Bundesliga's Messi", Nolito "the super winger", Bravo "Chilean Neuer", bla bla....................... A bunch of individuals don't make a team. It's been 10 years since the Arabs took over at Man City - two league titles and a UCL semi-final. Their philosophy going into transfer market should be nowhere near the one we should be looking at.

My two cents on Bakayoko - definitely a decent player, but not one that would improve our team IMHO. I've seen this season and I think we've all seen this season that Kante + Matic midfield offers protection for the back line, but lacks creativity. Would Bakayoko change this? I don't think so. Any team with a set of decent midfielders good on the ball would still run our midfield over and control the game with ease. Think Chelsea need a Dembele/Modric/Kroos type of player next to Kante if Conte is to play a two man midfield still. Someone with vision and ability to move the ball forward, not only tackle and protect the back line. At this moment for me Cesc Fabregas is one of the best passers of the ball in Europe. Lacks pace, but still, his ability on the ball is brilliant. Would be such a shame to let him go. Would love Conte to experiment in the pre-season and try implement new tactics also, not only 3-4-3 during whole season. 3-5-2 would be nice, too, against different teams he feels they are vulnerable to this system. Think a three man midfield would also be perfect for Cesc. My dream midfield next season would be Kante - Cesc - Nainggolan. Would have everything - vision, creativity, work rate, tackling abilities, long range shooting.