oldportblue

if we were to end up with lukaku and mbappe (and we sell/loan michy and sell costa), that wouldn't be a bad window at all in terms of revamping our attack Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I think we should aim for higher than him Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thank God for arsenal fans like Ty! Their club will continue to sink to further and further down and they will keep suffering horrible humiliations because of them... I love it Arsene Wenger we want you to staaaaaay!

TELEGRAPH: Chelsea focus efforts on signing Alexis Sanchez and Romelu Lukaku this summer as Alvaro Morata interest fades Good news as I would personally prefer Lukaku to Morata, if Diego was to leave... Also reassuring news about hazard in this article Doubtful that we would get Sanchez too but if we did: ..............Costa/Lukaku............. Hazard ......................Sanchez That would be a pretty mouthwatering front three

this jim white guy is supposed to be reliable, right?

Really? It's my favorite out of the lot, clean and original with unique colors

same here, decided to catch glimpses of the city game rather than barca-psg (was going to watch that later but ended up getting spoiled ) This is the first time this season I feel somewhat confident we have the title in the bag (barring a collapse of unprecedented proportions). It seems pep is more concerned by the CL at this point than the league, none of us will be complaining. However, Spurs are kind of on the up and their GS and GA are similar to ours so I wouldn't celebrate just yet but it's looking good

Drogba had his annoying moments too with his diving, sulking, wanting to leave Chelsea etc in his first few years here... He ended up being one of our top 3 players of all time (imo) and delivering us the CL and multiple PLs amongst other trophies... I'm not saying the same thing will necessarily happen with Diego but sometimes it's a good idea not to make rash decisions based on one or two isolated incidents when you have an absolutely amazing player at your disposal... I don't expect Diego to be perfect, Mendes probably told him to try to get a few days off while he discusses the details of a possible deal with the Chinese club and Diego did it. It's of course very annoying for us fans but at the same time, I think it's a good idea to remember that this is still a job for footballers and a business for agents, clubs etc so we perhaps shouldn't expect absolute loyalty from anyone

even all the media now saying with absolute certitude that he's off in summer, they have no clue whatsoever and are just making educated guesses based on what has gone on thus far... Their predictions are as valuable as yours or mine, and actually probably less so because they don't follow Chelsea as closely (there are exceptions of course but this is true for the majority of tabloids, journalists)... He very well might leave, although personally, I very much doubt it. IMO, the most likely scenario is that he helps us win the league this season and is re-signed to a 250-275K/week contract until 2022. A scenario I'm all for tbh, Costa is a clinical beast and he gives our team a fear factor and a real focal point up front, add a real quality player on the right side and we'll be up there with the top sides in Europe and not just England. Also, like I said before in this thread, I don't blame him for considering this Chinese bid because the amounts discussed are absolutely astronomical. He would stand to increase his current after tax salary 6-fold (from 5M after tax to 30M after tax) and IMO, any player in the world would at least have a think about such a proposal.

you just made me feel better about this whole thing with your post!! hope it plays out like that! for me, in the absolute ideal scenario, diego apologizes, everyone forgets about it and he stays for 3-4 more years without any drama and we win plenty of leagues and cups with both conte and costa but that seems farfetched at the moment

the guy is a lost cause

unlike the last 2 seasons? in 2014/2015, he had 20 goals in 26 premier league appearances lollll And a nothing player without his goals? DUHHHH he's a striker FFS! And on top of 14 goals in 18 games this season, he has 5 assists, that's pretty damn good for a nothing player... you're so clueless its laughable

literally all the points in your post are untrue

I said stats aren't useless, I didn't say we should we use stats as the sole indicator of a player's worth... I still don't understand the comparison to Suarez though, whether he is better than him or worse, he is still our best player and a top 5 player in the premier league. And to say that Costa's overall play is shit is very misguided and ridiculous. Hazard is not a striker so he's naturally more involved in the build-up play whereas Costa is a striker so his main job is to finish off his chances...

we're talking premier league here, what does Costa being better/worse than Suarez have to do with anything? And this season, yes, Costa has been a bit better than hazard imo. Not by much though

Stats aren't useless, especially for a striker, they show fairly accurately and objectively the contribution of the player. In any case, I also said most pundits/fans would have him top 5. Can you name 5 players better than Costa this season in the prem?

except that he is, both statistically and in the minds of most fans/pundits.... Sanchez has 14g7a and is asking for a reported 275-300k salary, Costa has 14g5a and is asking for something similar. In my mind, that sounds about right although having said that, I'd try to bargain him down to 250k

I would bump up Costa to 250-275K (most top, top players fall into this category) and would tell hazard that if he continues the way he's been playing this season and we win the title, he would also get a nice bump to around 250K... I think the others in the locker room are smart enough to understand that costa and hazard are our top 2 players and don't think it would mess up the chemistry. This is the going rate for top, top tier players and we will need to pay up to keep them. There is more money than ever in the prem and China is offering crazy money left and right so its normal for salaries to grow as a result... The alternative would be to hold firm and see our top player leave, that would be arsenalesque and wouldn't be a good signal to send imo...

it's not a matter of "necessary", that is very subjective and can mean anything... This is a case of Costa earning around 4-5Mpounds net, after tax and a Chinese club offering him 30M pounds net, after tax... That is a HUGE pay increase and any and every human on this planet who would get offered such a deal would at least pause and take the time to consider it. He can play 4 seasons there and get more than 100,000,000 pounds, that is an amount that is very hard to turn down for anyone...

I'm not sure about what the top wage earners get in the Premier League, but IIRC Rooney earns 300k/week... With this in mind, I would give him 250-275k rather than 200k for his new contract. He truly is a top 5 player in the league in my opinion and replacing him would be close to impossible (getting the same strike rate Costa offers in the prem from another striker) so I say just give him the money he wants and keep him until 2022. We can't do an arsenal and start being stingy with our best talents, it's not in anyone's interest

I like him! and he's English too

I would also agree. Don't see our club being moronic enough to start signing players for a manager who has his team playing amazing and winning 11 on the bounce, without his consent or approval..

you're most probably right but I still think the slim possibility is there... I'm fairly certain that if Arsenal continue to play spinelessly as they always tend to do and sanchez has to do everything by himself, as is currently the case, he will want to leave... And if they're faced with a situation where he would run down his contract, the greedy arse board might want to cash in this summer instead of losing him for nothing... A long shot but in football, you never know

you never know, we got ashley cole off them, they got PC off us... stranger things have happened in football. If he wants to leave arsenal and Chelsea come knocking with a big bid, anything is possible.

Also, don't think the criticism of Emanalo has anything to do with his skin color but more to do with his lack of credentials before coming to Chelsea (was head coach of a U14 girls football team in the US IIRC). Having said that, I've never had anything against the guy, he bought us some top, top talent (especially the belgians) and I am only thankful to him for that.. His inexperience in the beginning was a valid concern but he's been with us almost 10 years (I think) and has proved he is very good at his job (you can tell by the players we have now). I honestly don't think any criticism of him has to do with race at all, at least not from anything I've seen on twitter and on here