🇧🇪 Romelu Lukaku

[didierforever 7,349]

It says Chelsea are ready to offer 30m + Torres for Cavani. I am unsure how that is crazy in any way, or how we have any way to confirm or say that it's false. Chelsea might very well have tried that and PSG just refused, you know that happens quite often without the public knowing everything about it.

i think after last season it was CONFIRMED by either napoli or by chelsea that they had no contact with each other.

[calculatingInfinity 1,472]

i think after last season it was CONFIRMED by either napoli or by chelsea that they had no contact with each other.

I don't remember that... but only a week ago or so Mourinho said there would be no more players coming in, that Chelsea transfer window was closed... Just for Drogba to be announced a few days later. Clubs and managers lie all the time, I think it's silly to think Chelsea didn't have any interest in Cavani, but were scared away from the fee and wages.

But back to my original point, instead of whatever shit this is you have us discussing now. Di Marzio is a pretty reliable guy, but none of these journalists gets everything 100% , there will always be mistakes. However with the amount of Lukaku rumors and also coming from people like Di Marzio, I'm pretty confident he will be going soonish. I hope it won't happen, but I think it will. That Di Marzio once said a club was ready to bid on some player, and then didn't end up succeeding getting the player, hardly makes him unreliable. If you don't care about these rumors and gets angry about them, why don't you just you know... Ignore them? Clearly you know the best.

[didierforever 7,349]

I was thinking more like long term. Torres, even if he survives the ongoing transfer window, won't be a part of Chelsea FC for any more than a season or two and clearly everyone at the club knows that we can't really rely on him so eventually he will be replaced and probably by a very good player too. If in two years from now we have Costa and another very good striker banging in goals every game do you really think people will cry over what could have been if we had Lukaku?

I honestly don't see the big deal in all this. Costa / Torres / Drogba, which is still the worst case scenario and might even change if we somehow manage to ship off Torres, is more than enough to compete for some trophies this year when you consider the other improvements to the team and how close we came to winning some major trophies last season with a squad clearly worse than what we have now even without Lukaku.

Like I said, I'm still hoping he stays but it's not the end of the world if he goes and £24m + bonuses is a good price.

dude, i get what u r saying. even i am thinking about long-term.

this club can not AFFORD to lose jose (which will happen if we dont win the PL/CL) and for the life of me i cant see how costa/torres/DD would help us in that. costa WILL get injured or have a poor form. if we were to re-play villa away and palace away in a similar position as last season, i dont see how a DD/torres would help in case costa is injured. we are better than we were last season, no doubt. but so are city. their defence with the acquisition of mangala will be shored up. they have a good back-up in fernando to yaya-fernandinho. i dont see them having as poor a start as they did last season. also, the last season flattered us cos we won 6 points over both the teams that finished above us. even if we lose/draw a game, it means we have a 10/7 point gap to close against city which is massive. and lukaku could easily be the player who gives us that edge. maybe DD can do that too but i dont expect that off him (and lets not even include torres here).

at the end, if we dont win, jose will be sacked. which sets us back 5 years easily. the managerial merry go round will continue. bamford, baker, boga, solanke, musonda type talents would be wasted.

[petre.ispirescu 4,928]

If this is the move that will fund the Pogba/Cavani deal, then why not?

Get the €30m from Everton, add another €30-35m, buy one of Cavani and Pogba and let's end this transfer window on a high note.

[didierforever 7,349]

I don't remember that... but only a week ago or so Mourinho said there would be no more players coming in, that Chelsea transfer window was closed... Just for Drogba to be announced a few days later. Clubs and managers lie all the time, I think it's silly to think Chelsea didn't have any interest in Cavani, but were scared away from the fee and wages.

But back to my original point, instead of whatever shit this is you have us discussing now. Di Marzio is a pretty reliable guy, but none of these journalists gets everything 100% , there will always be mistakes. However with the amount of Lukaku rumors and also coming from people like Di Marzio, I'm pretty confident he will be going soonish. I hope it won't happen, but I think it will. That Di Marzio once said a club was ready to bid on some player, and then didn't end up succeeding getting the player, hardly makes him unreliable. If you don't care about these rumors and gets angry about them, why don't you just you know... Ignore them? Clearly you know the best.

how do i ignore them when there is only one thread alive on the forum discussing the same stupid thing. also, i dint get angry, its more u who has taken me ridiculing di marzio to your heart.

i mean how many sources and how many articles have been published since june? its been 2 months (and 1 month of transfer window) and yet lukaku is STILL here. i am just sensing a pattern. moreover with our HG players boundary and the fact that we will be left with DD and torres as back up, this move makes as little sense as u like. but as u said, no one gets it 100% right. so that is all i need to know. there is jack-squat on sky and BBC which are what i would call reliable. if there is news on there, i ll know the truth.

[Jype 6,398]

dude, i get what u r saying. even i am thinking about long-term.

this club can not AFFORD to lose jose (which will happen if we dont win the PL/CL) and for the life of me i cant see how costa/torres/DD would help us in that. costa WILL get injured or have a poor form. if we were to re-play villa away and palace away in a similar position as last season, i dont see how a DD/torres would help in case costa is injured. we are better than we were last season, no doubt. but so are city. their defence with the acquisition of mangala will be shored up. they have a good back-up in fernando to yaya-fernandinho. i dont see them having as poor a start as they did last season. also, the last season flattered us cos we won 6 points over both the teams that finished above us. even if we lose/draw a game, it means we have a 10/7 point gap to close against city which is massive. and lukaku could easily be the player who gives us that edge. maybe DD can do that too but i dont expect that off him (and lets not even include torres here).

at the end, if we dont win, jose will be sacked. which sets us back 5 years easily. the managerial merry go round will continue. bamford, baker, boga, solanke, musonda type talents would be wasted.

Don't you think you're being a little bit overdramatic there?

Anyway, maybe it's just me but I consider the attacking trio of Costa, Torres and DD to be enough for a season if Lukaku goes (and at the moment that's still 'IF'). It's not ideal but in addition to our other signings still IMO good enough to win us the title. Hell, with the kind of through balls Fabregas was playing in the last game even Torres might yet have a goal or two in him. Looking at the big picture I can see nearly everyone raising their game with these new quality additions to the squad and at least for me that's reassuring enough to go into the season with the players we have now and I'm confident we'll win the league.

[Madmax 9,219]

at the end, if we dont win, jose will be sacked. which sets us back 5 years easily. the managerial merry go round will continue. bamford, baker, boga, solanke, musonda type talents would be wasted.

And all of this hinges on Lukaku sticking around?

[didierforever 7,349]

Don't you think you're being a little bit overdramatic there?

Anyway, maybe it's just me but I consider the attacking trio of Costa, Torres and DD to be enough for a season if Lukaku goes (and at the moment that's still 'IF'). It's not ideal but in addition to our other signings still IMO good enough to win us the title. Hell, with the kind of through balls Fabregas was playing in the last game even Torres might yet have a goal or two in him. Looking at the big picture I can see nearly everyone raising their game with these new quality additions to the squad and at least for me that's reassuring enough to go into the season with the players we have now and I'm confident we'll win the league.

each to his own then. just dont see costa/torred/DD as a PL winning combo. city barely won the league with aguero/negredo/dzeko and jovetic. u need good strikers to win leagues. its costa's first season and he might struggle (i hope not) and even if he gets 15-20, we would need one of DD/torres getting 10. dont see that happening.

but each to his own!!

[didierforever 7,349]

And all of this hinges on Lukaku sticking around?

u could have bothered to have read the line before that too..

[Madmax 9,219]

u could have bothered to have read the line before that too..

I did, just too many ifs and coulds for my liking. No disrespect, I just don't think he'd be such a vital loss were he to move.

[didierforever 7,349]

I did, just too many ifs and coulds for my liking. No disrespect, I just don't think he'd be such a vital loss were he to move.

in m opinion, there is only one IF.

IF we go into the season with a striker force of costa/dd/torres,then i cant see us winning the league.

[Jype 6,398]

each to his own then. just dont see costa/torred/DD as a PL winning combo. city barely won the league with aguero/negredo/dzeko and jovetic. u need good strikers to win leagues. its costa's first season and he might struggle (i hope not) and even if he gets 15-20, we would need one of DD/torres getting 10. dont see that happening.

but each to his own!!

You can't really compare that to City's strikers and do a 1+1=2 and just assume that because their overkill strikeforce barely won them the league that our's will have no chance. At the back we are much stronger and with a full season of Matic and newly-signed Fabregas our midfield has also suddenly become pretty good compared to last season's Ramires - Mikel. Our attacking midfielders score much more goal than City's apart from Yaya Toure, whose commitment to City is still somewhat unclear and it's not guaranteed he has another 20 goal season in him.

There's absolutely no reason to be all doom and gloom as you seem to be, with or without Lukaku it's an excellent time to be a Chelsea fan and with the squad we have there is a very good chance we will win back the title after five years of waiting.

[Stats 7,142]

Did he happen to tell you why Real Madrid haven't bid for him? Or Barcelona? Or PSG? Or Livepool? Or United? Or Arsenal?

Pogba was missed because United struggled for central midfielders.

The difference is that we replaced Lukaku already. Costa and Drogba are both better than him, whilst Bamford and Solanke have the potential to be.

So because Real, Barca, PSG, Liverpool, United or Arsenal did not bid for him, that means something? How many teams bid for Pogba when he was out of contract? Not much and considering he was out of contract it begs the question more. That is irrelevant because after a few years leaving United he has proved himself that he is one of the best CM in the world. You could also ask the same about Costa. Did Barca, Real, Liverpool, Arsenal bid for him? They did not so that makes your point invalid.

Also Drogba did not set the word alight at Galatasaraay. He was decent. I would rather a 21 year old HG player than a 36 year old for sure. I think people forget that Lukaku is only 4 months older than Bamford. Virtually the same age. He has got potential but I think some are overrating him. Let's see how he performs in the Prem before saying he can be better than Lukaku. Solanke is 16 and a long way of making an impact on the first team so I won't comment on him for now. We had many "potential to be" and "could of been" that have gone on to pastures new.

[didierforever 7,349]

You can't really compare that to City's strikers and do a 1+1=2 and just assume that because their overkill strikeforce barely won them the league that our's will have no chance. At the back we are much stronger and with a full season of Matic and newly-signed Fabregas our midfield has also suddenly become pretty good compared to last season's Ramires - Mikel. Our attacking midfielders score much more goal than City's apart from Yaya Toure, whose commitment to City is still somewhat unclear and it's not guaranteed he has another 20 goal season in him.

There's absolutely no reason to be all doom and gloom as you seem to be, with or without Lukaku it's an excellent time to be a Chelsea fan and with the squad we have there is a very good chance we will win back the title after five years of waiting.

thats the point. if we have gotten better, so have they! even they have improved their weaknesses (all 3 of them in my opinion).

no doubt it will be a very very close title race, and to win those u need to have an edge. we lose that bit of edge by selling lukaku.

ps - yaya has confirmed his stay at city if i remember correctly.

[Jype 6,398]

thats the point. if we have gotten better, so have they! even they have improved their weaknesses (all 3 of them in my opinion).

no doubt it will be a very very close title race, and to win those u need to have an edge. we lose that bit of edge by selling lukaku.

ps - yaya has confirmed his stay at city if i remember correctly.

Where have they gotten better exactly? As of now they have got Caballero, Sagna, Fernando and judging by the leaked video presentation Mangala is about to join too. Mangala is a good signing for them and improves their central defense but the rest are squad players at best.

They got Caballero, we got Courtois

They got Sagna, we got Filipe Luis

They got Fernando, we got Fabregas

We also got Costa and Drogba to replace Eto'o and Ba plus Van Ginkel and Romeu to replace Lampard.

Don't know about you but I would say we are winning them so far in the transfer window.

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

Regardless of how you slice it, striking options of Costa, mediocre Torres and 36 year old Drogba simply doesn't inspire confidence, regardless of our other signings this summer. If Lukaku is really going to be sold and we have no real contingency plans to bring in a quality striker to replace him, then I have to make Man City favourites to retain the league. I trust that our board are at least looking for a viable replacement. If not, none of it makes sense. Absolutely none of it.

[didierforever 7,349]

Where have they gotten better exactly? As of now they have got Caballero, Sagna, Fernando and judging by the leaked video presentation Mangala is about to join too. Mangala is a good signing for them and improves their central defense but the rest are squad players at best.

They got Caballero, we got Courtois

They got Sagna, we got Filipe Luis

They got Fernando, we got Fabregas

We also got Costa and Drogba to replace Eto'o and Ba plus Van Ginkel and Romeu to replace Lampard.

Don't know about you but I would say we are winning them so far in the transfer window.

Where habe they gotten better? Seriously?

Caballero is a good signing for them cos he is a decent back up GK. courtois is a redundant move cos cech is not joe hart who got dropped for mistake after mistake.

Fernando is a squad signing but something they dearly needed. A good back up to yaya-fernandinho rather than falling straight back to garcia/rodwell.

Mangala is a no-brainer. I can't see them losing to the likes of cardiff (or burnley this year as analogy) and have a pathetic away form to start with.

We had a 4 point gap on top of 2 wins over them to begin with. We had to win against them this window to lessen the gap. And nowhere did I say that they have performed better than us in the window. We have been downright exceptoonal in this window so far. Getting costa, fab, luis and Dd for a net expenditure of 20mil (or less) is a great deal. But that doea not mean I can't say that city tok have gotten better, cos they have.

[didierforever 7,349]

Regardless of how you slice it, striking options of Costa, mediocre Torres and 36 year old Drogba simply doesn't inspire confidence, regardless of our other signings this summer. If Lukaku is really going to be sold and we have no real contingency plans to bring in a quality striker to replace him, then I have to make Man City favourites to retain the league. I trust that our board are at least looking for a viable replacement. If not, none of it makes sense. Absolutely none of it.

This.

[Fernando 6,585]

Dude I respect you for a lot of posts I agree on... but on the Lukaku thread you are really pissing me off!

Not only because you post almost everyday... But because you keep on repeating that he had his chance, is a coward, ran away and most importantly has a big mouth and needs to shut up. I didn't want to reply on that... but because you just keep on going... I just have to

First of all:

It really amazes me every time I see how many people think he has a big mouth, is an arrogant boy who 'said' he's a complete striker AND who also said he needs to be the #1 striker!

I don't know who replied on my last post saying 'we also know Romelu'... But fact is, if you say all these things above... it just proves one thing: you clearly don't know Lukaku and you are clearly biased by media! Yet again... it really amazes me how much impact the media has in the UK, because many guys on here tend to think these things.

So, like I said before, I know Lukaku personally from age 15. It's not like he calls me every night or would invite me on his b-day party BUT if I see him at the bridge he will most definitely recognize me and come over to say hi. So I think I'm well placed to make a judgement on him... and forgive me for getting very angry on people who are just filling forum pages because they also 'think' they know him! Lukaku is one of the most dedicated and professional players out there. Even when it comes to multimedia training etc! Please try to understand that the press loved the fact that Lukaku was outscoring our own strikers time after time and did their best to make a big story of that! By doing this also trying to make Lukaku say he also thinks he's better that the Chelsea strikes, etc. He really didn't. The only thing he did say once it that 'he feels like a more complete striker now' => easy to translate to 'a complete striker'

Now Facts:

• I will give you some inside info from the boardroom:
  • First off all trainers get the clear instructions to try and make Torres shine again. Don't forget this was a +50£ million investment... We will most definitely lose on him... but the board at least wants to regain of part of it => this is also the only reason why he keeps playing (frustrating so many fans!!)
  • Last season plan was to loan out or sell Demba Ba! Everything was tried to get him out so we would have 3 strikers left... At the final day of the mercato... only Arsenal and a financially broke Malaga were willing to take him. He was almost gone to Arsenal, but finally the board decided not to let him go to an EPL rival.
  • The fact that Ba wasn't loaned out had direct connection and impact on the Lukaku loan. This was the reason why this was also done so surprisingly late!
  • Mourinho didn't mind starting the season with 4 strikers! Which is his good right as a coach, but from a players point of view this means: 'if you're lucky you get enough chances to prove yourself. If you have bad luck... you end up in the stands. This is not really a risk you want to take in a WC year.
  • Lukaku knew Torres had to play (orders from above) & Eto'o came as a superstar and old friend of Mou as the 1st or 2nd option. Meaning he would be 3rd striker, probably on the same level as Ba.

So on those who keep saying he's a coward who run away.... one word: WC year with a promising Belgian team. He NEEDED to prove himself to our NT Wilmots after Benteke's amazing form! So he just needed to play. With 4 strikers at the bridge... the best way to prove himself was another loan to Everton.

If you think he had enough chances to prove himself after 3 games in competition... => You're joking right?? He gets a real chance in a game or 10-15. Still needs to come. So imo Lukaku absolutely didn't had the chance to prove himself yet at the bridge!

For the 'big mouth' shit => please get to know the real person instead of the media made version of him!

If you want my opinion about a possible transfer... If the club sorts out the problem with Torres before the end of August (sell him), there is a 100% chance that Lukaku will stay and fight for his spot with Costa & Drogba!

We are talking about facts hey?

:blue scalf:

[MrExcalibur100 7,124]

You can't really compare that to City's strikers and do a 1+1=2 and just assume that because their overkill strikeforce barely won them the league that our's will have no chance. At the back we are much stronger and with a full season of Matic and newly-signed Fabregas our midfield has also suddenly become pretty good compared to last season's Ramires - Mikel. Our attacking midfielders score much more goal than City's apart from Yaya Toure, whose commitment to City is still somewhat unclear and it's not guaranteed he has another 20 goal season in him.

There's absolutely no reason to be all doom and gloom as you seem to be, with or without Lukaku it's an excellent time to be a Chelsea fan and with the squad we have there is a very good chance we will win back the title after five years of waiting.

Even if Lukaku leaves, I still feel we have at least a good a squad, or even better a squad than Man City, but our attack once again is left depleted quality wise.

Goalkeepers : Cech and Courtois is certainly better than Hart and Caballero.

Defence : Filipe Luis, JT, Cahill and Azpilicueta + Ivanovic just might be the most solid back four in Europe. It edges out Kolarov, Kompany, Mangala and Zabaleta + Sagna. Mangala, while he may be a great athlete is prone to make mistakes and Kolarov is a good attacking LB but Luis is much more solid than him. Azpilicueta right now is probably slightly better than Pablo "I like to get f**ed by Hazard" Zabaleta.

Midfield : Matic, Ramires, Fabregas, van Ginkel, Hazard, Oscar, Schurrle, Willian, Mikel and Romeu is just simply incredible, one of the top 3 best in Europe. It has every single quality you want in a midfield. It's better than Fernando, Fernandinho, Toure, Silva, Nasri, Milner, Navas and Garcia. It has more variety and quality than Man City's midfield.

Attack (without Lukaku) : Costa, Torres and Drogba is simply not as impressive as Aguero, Dzeko, Negredo and Jovetic. Those 4 are much better than Torres and Drogba. A guy like Aguero if he stays fit this season is just as deadly as Luis Suarez in my opinion. Now, if this wasn't Costa's first season, it will be a different story. I don'y expect him to start many, many games his first season. He will need time to adapt to the pace and intensity of the league.

We have better goalkeepers, defence and midfield than Man City but they are easily stronger in attack. And we saw last season with Liverpool how a superb strike-force can carry an above average team to greatness. We saw it with Man United in Fergie's last season there.