petre.ispirescu

Remy is a good player and you won't find a better 2nd choice centre forward for that money (€10m / £8m), but I feel his wage demands are the reason why top clubs stay away from him. Prior to that medical he failed in Boston, I read something about Remy demanding a €6.5m / £5.2m per annum salary at Liverpool. I can see this move happening only if he'll lower his wage demands - €140k / £110k p/w for a guy that won't even play a lot of minutes if Diego Costa stays fit is a bit too much I feel.

Signed for QPR a month ago

Porto = €30.5m Doyen Sports = €17.8m Standard de Liege = €5.4m That's €53.7m (£43m) for Mangala. wow

I have a friend that works for Eurosport here in Romania and commentates Bundesliga every week-end. He told me this morning that some friends of him that work in the German media (very close to Bayern) have told him that Reus to Bayern is a done deal. Reus has agreed terms with Bayern, everything between the player and the club is done and he will move to Munich next summer. Bayern even payed the €25m release clause in advance to make sure everything is done and dusted. My friend also joked and said that the only way to prevent this deal from happening is to convince Reus to retire at the end of this season .

The thing is you are comparing Filipe's pre-season with Azpilicueta's last season and that's wrong. You forget that Filipe was part of one of the best defences in Europe, too. Atletico have only allowed 26 goals in La Liga last season (compared with Chelsea's 27). Also they were undefeated in Champions League in regular time, allowing only seven goals in regular time (plus three in ET), compared to Chelsea's 10. So yes, the fact that he hasn't assisted or scored against Pellets and Ferencvaros does not change anything about his role this season. Pre-season is all about fitness. Kids like Baker, Zouma, Chalobah, Ake have something to prove in a pre-season, not Filipe. You are basically saying that even if Messi would sign for this club, he'd still have to prove himself against Pellets.

There is an article in today's Gazzetta Dello Sport printed edition in which they say Jose has convinced Roman to pay €38m for Benatia. He wants to have a complete team before the game against Burnley and Benatia is his favourite centre back at this moment and the #1 target. Talks between the two clubs have already begun yesterday and Gazzetta Dello Sport believe that Chelsea have made an offer too good not to be accepted.

Influential in what way? He does not have to prove anything against Pellets and Ferencvaros, he is coming at the club as one of the best left-backs in the world. That's enough to make him a regular starter. You don't buy this kind of player just to have him as a back-up for a right back playing out of his natural position. If Mourinho wanted Azpilicueta to stay at the left-back, then he would have looked for another right-back, not for Shaw or Filipe Luis.

Il Messaggero is one of Italy's most reputable newspapers so there might be something in this story if they are reporting it. I read in that article that Chelsea have made a last hour offer and have outbid Barcelona by €5m (€45m in total). Also Marin will go the other way. On loan. Now let's wait and see.

That was nice

Good game, now let's win the trophy

LOL at the linesman........

Don't panick over a pre-season line-up guys, Luis is not starting because Hazard and Schurrle are in the line-up. They are not at 100% yet and they won't track back that much, hence Jose using two defensive minded full backs.

Hopefully it'll stay like that for the entire season!

Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry ©, Azpilicueta; Fabregas, Matic; Schurrle, Oscar, Hazard; Diego Costa.

Gigi said Courtois has some slight injury, while Lee said that he'll play 45 minutes. We shall see.

Courtois, Mikel and Didier 45 minutes. Eden 30 minutes.

Yes, two 45-minute matches, similar to that Italian pre-season tournament between Juventus, Inter and Milan.

Fenerbahce with their best line-up against Besiktas. 433 - Volkan, Caner, Alves, Bekir, Gökhan, Mehmet Topal, Emre, Meireles, Sow, Emenike, Webo.

Agent Demba Man I can't believe those stupid fucks at Legia will miss on Champions League play-off just because they used an ineligible player for the last three minutes of that game hahahah

I would not have expected that Qatari owner to say that they have signed him just because Thiago Silva wanted a new friend at the club, but to say that they have signed the best centre back in the world is outrageous and at the same time an insult to the likes of Terry, Kompany, Ramos, Benatia, Boateng, Hummels, Godin and especially his employee at Paris, Thiago Silva.

Look at Frank's face when that lady asks him "how does it feel to be a Man City player for the next six months?". Haha, I bet that if someone else would have asked him the exact same question four months ago, he would have had the same reaction, plus another one or two minutes of uncontrollable laughter You can see by the way that he speaks about City that the guy isn't taking this seriously. I know he's a pro, but my feeling is that Franks going to be Jose's inside man at Carrington. Just wait for the Etihad game

I can't believe you are panicking over a rumour launched by Marca. That's third world journalism, just like the Daily Star and The Sun. edit: Personally, I would add Marca to that first page list, together with Tribalfootball and Goal. That's how bad they are.

Manquillo after signing for Liverpool: "When they tell you Liverpool want to sign you, I think like any player, you are going to be absolutely amazed and you don't think of anything else than going straight there." That's so ridiculous, it's not even funny anymore.

Chelsea #1 and Tottenham & Liverpool out of the Top Four. This is the perfect scenario for me, although I would also prefer Everton to win Arsenal's 4th spot trophy. But I don't think it will happen. Man what a season this would be if Chelsea is crowned EPL champions and Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham all miss on Champions League Football.

Bayern have confirmed the transfer of Pepe Reina for €2.5m And apparently Madrid will listen to offers for Xabi. I would not be surprised if he'll end up playing for Liverpool this season to be honest.