Non-Chelsea Transfer Pub

[kellzfresh 7,229]

Personally I believe that with more depth in the squad our current team would have gone a lot further in all competitions, I used to think that Azpi-Luis would be better but mostly due to Hazard's free role Luis cannot be a wing back and compared to Iva and Azpi his defending is abysmal. Ake will replace him, I think.

[*]Central midfield was extremely thin this season. No backup for Cesc and Matic (and no, Mikel and Ramires are not good enough) and this was by far the most major achilles' heel we have had. I honestly believe that with Cesc and Matic at 100% we would have beaten PSG and given Barcelona a much harder challenge than they did. Backup for Matic is difficult: Mikel is certainly not good enough and I fear Ake is not ready to take on such a pivotal role in the team, but hey, he can't do worse than Mikel. Requires Jose to trust him. RLC is a completely different profile of player and when in big games he would have been played at the expense of Willian/Oscar. But we do need a creative backup to Fabregas, of a similar profile. Schweinsteiger does come to mind, and would bridge the gap for Colkett or Musonda to mature into the role and give valuable experience to a young team, a second Ballack signing, if you will.

Ins

Schweinsteiger £10m

Robben (maybe) £10m

Reus (opt)

Outs

Ramires £15m

Mikel £5m

Some of our vast collection of loanees £10m

@Madmax put up a fantastic article

The Premier League in the last few seasons has seen an interesting development. No side has managed to retain a league title in 6 seasons - the last club to do so was Man United way back in 2009, which was the third in a hat trick of championships starting from 2007. Evidently, getting to the top has become much easier than staying at the top - and this is what should concern Mourinho and Chelsea, the runaway nature of this season's success notwithstanding. I've put together a list of the major transfer dealings of each of the title contenders during these past 6 seasons for comparison below.

A recurring theme here is the reigning champions either ( a ) failing to replace outgoing players or ( b ) failing to add significant quality to the title winning squad while competitors strengthen enough to dethrone them.

The concern

The concern then stems from Mourinho's statements over the past week with regards to Chelsea's activities over the summer :

Contrast that with Chelsea's intent at this stage last season :

Now, Mourinho of course is a master manipulator when it comes to words in the press and his recent declarations could prove to be smoke and mirrors, especially with his comments likening the transfer market bubble to an impending collapse on Wall Street, but surely even he in his heart of hearts would know that Chelsea do in fact need changes, not wholesale changes, but some changes to take the next step - domestic consolidation coupled with European ascension.

Areas to target

As the season wore on it has become clear that a few more "surgical" signings in key areas is just what is needed to complete the puzzle. A ball playing centre half, a goalscoring winger to take some burden off Costa and Hazard, a central midfielder of enough quality to both complement and supplement the Matic-Fabregas duo would top most wishlists of Chelsea fans and the various transfer rumours swirling around the club confirm the general view in this regard. (Varane, Stones, Pogba, Koke, Griezmann, Bale have all been variously linked with a move to the club and they all make some sense.)

The rivals

Manchester United continue to flounder despite spending the best part of £200 million over last summer. With their Champions League status restored and a season under the collective belts of Mata, Herrera, Di Maria, Blind and Rojo, they can be expected to spend even more to push on under Van Gaal. Money is not an issue for Manchester City either, with them having proved that they're happy to pay any puny fines UEFA impose on them. The possible departure of Pellegrini and an ageing squad means there will be significant investment for whoever comes in. Arsenal are also free from their Emirates Stadium imposed shackles and are now legitimate rivals on the transfer front too.

Conclusion

All the indicators point to it being a hard fought battle for the best available players. Chelsea cannot afford to take their eyes off the ball even though they've never been better placed to launch a concerted effort at establishing a sustained period of dominance. 2014-15 was good but next season needs to be even better, and it needs to start in the transfer market. As the saying goes, a rolling stone gathers no moss.

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

@Madmax put up a fantastic article

Reus and Schweinsteiger would solve both of those problems!

Apart from a ball playing centre half but maybe Christensen will step up.

[iseah100 5,612]

Schnediderlin would be a good signing. Song too. Why didn't we go for Khedira? Pedro and Varane would be my must signings. If Jose plans to play RLC then we may not need another CM, as him and Ake would be enough along with Ramires. Mikel should be sold.

[hamad138 190]

I think khedira wants to go to his homeland.

[stroey 2,525]

I think khedira wants to go to his homeland.

Yeah read he is close too Schalke.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

Hummels is staying at BVB according to their director. And in Argentina there are already reports about Otamendi agreeing a pre-contract with them.

I wish we'll try to get Otamendi tbh, but he'll cost 50m euros, thats his buy-out clause and Valencia wants him to stay.

[didierforever 7,349]

Schnediderlin would be a good signing. Song too. Why didn't we go for Khedira? Pedro and Varane would be my must signings. If Jose plans to play RLC then we may not need another CM, as him and Ake would be enough along with Ramires. Mikel should be sold.

khedira is barely an upgrade on rambo. not the player we should be going for. moreover, like you said, jose probably wants to test out RLC.

my only must signing is a goalscoring winger. reus/pedro is must.

[deaconblue 0]

2 of the worst players who can absolutely destroy the squad harmony are zlatan and yaya.

also, zlatan is PSG's first choice striker who is banging in goals for fun. he wont come here to play second fiddle to costa.

yaya will be a useless buy. would create more of a problem than solve any.

godin would cost 20mil, varane would be a better option.

greizemann for 44mil compared to reus for a similar fee. i would take reus every time.

Very good, hard to argue with any of that.

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Not sure how legit but Gundogan to barca is apparently very close to done deal. 30m$, will join them in january 2016 on 5 year deal.

[flonaldo.19 11]

so there is a picture of Mourinho, Ed Woodward, and some guy that people are pretending is Cech's agent. Does anybody knows if it is true?

[ChelseaFanUK 1,014]

so there is a picture of Mourinho, Ed Woodward, and some guy that people are pretending is Cech's agent. Does anybody knows if it is true?

I'd say Mourinho and Woodward is certainly them. As for the agent, its hard to tell.

This is Cech's agent, Viktor Kolar

[nadavTKL 1,787]

I will be ok with a Di Maria - Cech deal.

[Parky 739]

Hmm that's interesting. I cant see we would just allow Cech to go without some kind of bonus for us.

Maybe Di Maria for Cech + cash or more realistic would be a straight swap for RVP ?

[CurlyHairLikeLuiz 1,625]

Hmm that's interesting. I cant see we would just allow Cech to go without some kind of bonus for us.

Maybe Di Maria for Cech + cash or more realistic would be a straight swap for RVP ?

Herrera would also be good. If we're looking for a goalscoring winger then bringing back Mata would work too.

[nadavTKL 1,787]

so there is a picture of Mourinho, Ed Woodward, and some guy that people are pretending is Cech's agent. Does anybody knows if it is true?

There's also this pic, clearly Mourinho.

[Superblue 6,372]

If Cech wants to stay in England, selling to United is the lesser of two evile as he's a replacement for De Gea but hardly an upgrade to improve them. He'd be a huge upgrade for Arsenal though.

[ChelseaFanUK 1,014]

Cechs agency denied it was his agent,

[RoyalBlues 4,050]

Maybe we're trying to sign someone from MU?