Axel Witsel

[Special Juan 28,100]

I'm on team witsel, we haven't had much recent luck with ex-lpoo players

[BlueLyon 9,359]

Southampton have stated that their aim is Champions League football, so that's a fair amount of pressure. They're also off to a pretty good start despite promoting youth, and it's not really a new thing with them.

Wilsere had one loan spell and was then put into the first team - we gave Nat a loan spell and then fucked him around at the start of this season.

Pogba at United is an example of what happens when you don't give youngsters a shot. Still, for that one example there are countless other examples of young players getting a shot at United (Januzaj being the latest) - I don't think we can say there isn't pressure of expectation at United can we?

Like I said, I like Witsel but £40 million for a guy who has never played in a top quality league is a bit of a risk and I also think it's another step in the wrong direction for what this club should be doing. At some point the academy needs to start contributing to the first-team in a meaningful way. Mourinho right now has more freedom to take risks than any manager has in almost a decade, but instead we're flitting between Lampard and Mikel once again.

I agree on giving our kids some chance, but we desperately need some top class players on peak. We have zero such players. Either we have too old like Terry or Lamps or we have too young like Hazard or Oscar. Thats why we have no stability, sometimes we play realy good and then next game bad. We need player(s) who give it every fucking game like Rvp or Vidal and can push team forward alone and make difference alone, indipendent on form of others. Mata was doing that for us last year, now we have to find new player that suits Mou.

[The only place to be 11,313]

I agree on giving our kids some chance, but we desperately need some top class players on peak. We have zero such players. Either we have too old like Terry or Lamps or we have too young like Hazard or Oscar. Thats why we have no stability, sometimes we play realy good and then next game bad. We need player(s) who give it every fucking game like Rvp or Vidal and can push team forward alone and make difference alone, indipendent on form of others. Mata was doing that for us last year, now we have to find new player that suits Mou.

How do we develop 'top class players on peak' without giving the kids a chance to grow in the team? Spend more money?

Which team is top of the league? Who is the top scorer in the league?

[BlueLyon 9,359]

How do we develop 'top class players on peak' without giving the kids a chance to grow in the team? Spend more money?

Which team is top of the league? Who is the top scorer in the league?

Read my post again. I didnt say we develop top players, but we should buy top players. Yes we have to spend money for that. We bought enough talent already, we need some quality aswell like.

Sturridge wouldn never work out here, its irony of our club. We buy/develp plenty of young future players, but we dont give them chance and trust.

Arsenal is on top, but lets see end of season. And overall, I realy dont want Chelsea compare to Arsenal, nor want Chelsea to follow arsenal steps, they are trophyless for ages...

[Stingray 9,441]

I agree on giving our kids some chance, but we desperately need some top class players on peak. We have zero such players. Either we have too old like Terry or Lamps or we have too young like Hazard or Oscar. Thats why we have no stability, sometimes we play realy good and then next game bad. We need player(s) who give it every fucking game like Rvp or Vidal and can push team forward alone and make difference alone, indipendent on form of others. Mata was doing that for us last year, now we have to find new player that suits Mou.

If you talk about being top and being consistent, Witsel is just that: consistent as hell. This is really quite extraordinary for his tender age. He just always delivers and imo that is what we need: consistent, class, performing and young.

[The only place to be 11,313]

Read my post again. I didnt say we develop top players, but we should buy top players. Yes we have to spend money for that. We bought enough talent already, we need some quality aswell like.

Sturridge wouldn never work out here, its irony of our club. We buy/develp plenty of young future players, but we dont give them chance and trust.

Arsenal is on top, but lets see end of season. And overall, I realy dont want Chelsea compare to Arsenal, nor want Chelsea to follow arsenal steps, they are trophyless for ages...

Why don't we try and develop top players though? Why haven't we given the likes of Lukaku and Chalobah a chance to bed in?

There's such a desire for trophies that no-one really gives a fuck about the future of this club. They just want immediate success.

There's a middle ground between us and Arsenal, where we spend money and develop young talent - unfortunately Arsenal seem to have realised this as well which is why they're doing so well so far. There's so much more satisfaction to be had from developing talent rather than just buying it. Of course we could win the title this year just by throwing money at it and there would be plenty of supporters who would love that, but it's empty.

[BleedsBlue 1,549]

Why don't we try and develop top players though? Why haven't we given the likes of Lukaku and Chalobah a chance to bed in?

There's such a desire for trophies that no-one really gives a fuck about the future of this club. They just want immediate success.

There's a middle ground between us and Arsenal, where we spend money and develop young talent - unfortunately Arsenal seem to have realised this as well which is why they're doing so well so far. There's so much more satisfaction to be had from developing talent rather than just buying it. Of course we could win the title this year just by throwing money at it and there would be plenty of supporters who would love that, but it's empty.

The board should start a academy type of policy,where at least 2 players get the opportunity to make it in the first team with having played a minimum number of minutes each season.

[Tomo 21,751]

The board should start a academy type of policy,where at least 2 players get the opportunity to make it in the first team with having played a minimum number of minutes each season.

Maybe Uefa/FA make a rule where every club has to name a player that was at the club before 16 either in the lineup or the bench on a matchday? or even better let us have 11 subs.

[The Mak 4,459]

He's roughly the same age as Makelele was when we signed him. He's proven in this league and he's worked under Jose. I can't imagine he'd be much more than a quarter of Witsel's price too.

Nat should've been developing in the Premier League this season, and like Lukaku I think it should've been with us rather than sticking with Essien/Mikel/Ba/Eto'o. Instead we're being linked with Witsel and Falcao - the twin stars of the Russian and French leagues respectively (except they're not because Hulk and Ibra probably are).

He's a good player but he's in far too inferior a competition to say he's best in the world. Yes he's looked good for Belgium but they're an exceptional team right now. A few months ago you'd get a few people saying Paulinho was the player we needed but he's had a few struggles (he also cost £17 million which is less than HALF what Witsel is being quoted at - there's just no value in this transfer).

You're complaining about us buying players and loaning youth, but who are you complaining about exactly? If I was a lesser poster I would just resort to the 'Mourinho knows more about football than anyone here' argument...

Sometimes you just have to accept the nature of the business and the club. Abramovich is all about results and we all know what happens when he doesn't get them, so it makes it even less likely for us to gamble on youth - no matter the potential, there is still a risk. Right now we can only hope that they develop nicely somewhere else and that their position isn't overflowed when they return. Nat still has a great chance as long as he makes the most of his loans because the likes of Lampard, Mikel and Essien aren't getting any better. He is.

And until there is some rule that backs youth development, I don't really see things changing.

[The only place to be 11,313]

You're complaining about us buying players and loaning youth, but who are you complaining about exactly? If I was a lesser poster I would just resort to the 'Mourinho knows more about football than anyone here' argument...

I'm not sure who is to blame, but the culture at the club seems to be against promoting youth which is amazing considering the investment in the academy. At this moment in time, I don't think it's a stretch to say we have one of the best (if not the best) academies in terms of age-level teams. We seem to have a fear of throwing them into the team and I'm not sure where that comes from. There are a few posters who argue that players 'aren't ready' over and over so maybe the club is worried about losing fans if players under-

perform.....I'm not sure.

Sometimes you just have to accept the nature of the business and the club. Abramovich is all about results and we all know what happens when he doesn't get them, so it makes it even less likely for us to gamble on youth - no matter the potential, there is still a risk. Right now we can only hope that they develop nicely somewhere else and that their position isn't overflowed when they return. Nat still has a great chance as long as he makes the most of his loans because the likes of Lampard, Mikel and Essien aren't getting any better. He is.

And maybe this is what the modern Chelsea is....to me that's rather boring. There's nothing better than seeing young players come into the team and prove their worth, but if results are all that matter then that's a tough sell.

Personally I don't think results are all that matter and maybe I'm in the minority. Yes we won the Champions League, but I'm sure it would be more satisfying to show some ambition and try and be the best team in Europe rather than simply relying on luck to win a trophy.

Barcelona of the last few years will be remembered as one of the all-time great. Liverpool of the 80s and United of the 90s were all-time greats.....we have the infrastructure to build one of the great teams but I don't think we will until we actually have some patience, take some risks and BUILD something rather than buying it off the shelf.

And until there is some rule that backs youth development, I don't really see things changing.

Sadly I think you're right.

[Hostedenis 556]

A Witsel signing would be huge! He would play well in our pivot, has great passing (Mou's counter-attack) and holding abilities. I'm surprised this topic has been so quiet lately...

But it's not going to happen... Price is too high even though we need someone like him now that Lampard's injured for the next month and might retire, if not after this season then the next.

[didierforever 7,349]

if we can sell kdb for 25mil, add essien to that for another 2-3mil, kakuta for another 1-2mil and add 10mil more from roman's pocket, then we should be able to buy him. would be absolutely fab alongside rambo.

[Atholy 1,293]

Different media in Belgium are reporting that he has to leave Zenit St Petersburg because of de devaluation of the Russian Rouble!

Witsel (just as Hulk, Javi Garcia, etc...) have their contracts in €. At the current exchange rate... this is a big problem for the Russian Clubs.

I would take Witsel over Mikel/Ramires any day!!!

[Atholy 1,293]

a little extra that doesn't say anything about the total package. But a nice skill!

[OneMoSalah 8,883]

Different media in Belgium are reporting that he has to leave Zenit St Petersburg because of de devaluation of the Russian Rouble!

Witsel (just as Hulk, Javi Garcia, etc...) have their contracts in €. At the current exchange rate... this is a big problem for the Russian Clubs.

I would take Witsel over Mikel/Ramires any day!!!

If we sold Rami and he would sit on the bench I'd take him, no way he'd start over Matic or Cesc though. Think hes probably not even as good as Ramires but hes a bit more rounded in comparison to Rami.