Mario Mandzukic

[Jype 6,398]

Can anybody share some light? Is there anything concrete or only talk...?

Define concrete.

At the moment it's just reports in the media but as they say, there's no smoke without fire and something is definitely going on here. Guardiola has already wished him good luck in his next team and he has cleared out his stuff from Bayern's training center so it's not a question of whether he'll stay or leave, more like just a matter of where he ends up at and so far Chelsea look to be leading the race to sign him with a fee reportedly having been agreed. Season is now over for both clubs and the player will be going to the World Cup with Croatia so if we're going to get him, I suppose it will be soon.

Arsenal also interested.

[LondonPride1905 236]

Define concrete.

At the moment it's just reports in the media but as they say, there's no smoke without fire and something is definitely going on here. Guardiola has already wished him good luck in his next team and he has cleared out his stuff from Bayern's training center so it's not a question of whether he'll stay or leave, more like just a matter of where he ends up at and so far Chelsea look to be leading the race to sign him with a fee reportedly having been agreed. Season is now over for both clubs and the player will be going to the World Cup with Croatia so if we're going to get him, I suppose it will be soon.

Arsenal also interested.

Things he is leaving, so he can get playing time. If he comes to Chelsea, along with Costa will he get what he wants? He is a beast and will fit great here. IMO. It bothers me, can this mean Costa won't come, or we are going for both and Romelu is going to be sold or loaned? So many thoughts.

[Jype 6,398]

Things he is leaving, so he can get playing time. If he comes to Chelsea, along with Costa will he get what he wants? He is a beast and will fit great here. IMO. It bothers me, can this mean Costa won't come, or we are going for both and Romelu is going to be sold or loaned? So many thoughts.

Should we get both Costa and Mandzukic, the safest assumption would be that Lukaku won't be at the club come August. Whether out on loan or a permanent move, he won't stay as a third option behind Costa and Mandzukic if last year he thought competing with Torres and Eto'o was too much for him to handle.

And yes, I believe Mandzukic would get plenty of games even if we got Costa as well. At Bayern he's had to share the lone striker position with Gomez / Pizarro last year and Pizarro this season with Guardiola also quite often playing Müller / Götze as a false nine. He has still managed to get enough games to be the top scorer of their team in both seasons. Now Lewandowski is coming too and will undoubtedly be their number one strike so sharing the spare minutes with Pizarro and Guardiola sometimes preferring to play without a striker at all definitely means less games than a player of his quality should be playing. Whether he prefers a number one striker spot at a team like Arsenal or an equal role with someone like Costa at Chelsea remains to be seen, but I have a feeling he would be happy to share the place with another striker because after all he did join Bayern when they had both Gomez and Pizarro there and he had no guarantees about his playing time.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Why Mandzukic? It makes absolutely no sense!

Signing Costa, keeping Lukaku and selling Luiz to Barcelona for 30mi (or swapping him for Alexis and Song) is waaay better than doing business with Bayern over this okay striker...

[ChelseaFanUK 1,014]

Telling thing with Mandzukic is neither Matthias Sammer when asked, or Rumenigge have put this story to bed and ruled out him leaving. They say "with Lewandowski arriving it will be hard for Mario." They seem to be telling him he's not wanted without making it too obvious IMO

[LondonPride1905 236]

Should we get both Costa and Mandzukic, the safest assumption would be that Lukaku won't be at the club come August. Whether out on loan or a permanent move, he won't stay as a third option behind Costa and Mandzukic if last year he thought competing with Torres and Eto'o was too much for him to handle.

And yes, I believe Mandzukic would get plenty of games even if we got Costa as well. At Bayern he's had to share the lone striker position with Gomez / Pizarro last year and Pizarro this season with Guardiola also quite often playing Müller / Götze as a false nine. He has still managed to get enough games to be the top scorer of their team in both seasons. Now Lewandowski is coming too and will undoubtedly be their number one strike so sharing the spare minutes with Pizarro and Guardiola sometimes preferring to play without a striker at all definitely means less games than a player of his quality should be playing. Whether he prefers a number one striker spot at a team like Arsenal or an equal role with someone like Costa at Chelsea remains to be seen, but I have a feeling he would be happy to share the place with another striker because after all he did join Bayern when they had both Gomez and Pizarro there and he had no guarantees about his playing time.

I agree to be honest. I hope we see him here and can see your point. I rate him highly and wanted to see another opinion, so thanks for clearing a bit of a fog. (:

[Fernando 6,488]

I'm sorry but I don't know much about this guy.

Not really excited to be fair, but hey I don't know much about him....

Can someone give me a run down of this player?

[Jype 6,398]

I'm sorry but I don't know much about this guy.

Not really excited to be fair, but hey I don't know much about him....

Can someone give me a run down of this player?

Think Edin Dzeko with a slightly worse goalscoring ability but better link-up play.

[Fernando 6,488]

Think Edin Dzeko with a slightly worse goalscoring ability but better link-up play.

Kalou???

[The only place to be 11,313]

Why Mandzukic? It makes absolutely no sense!

Signing Costa, keeping Lukaku and selling Luiz to Barcelona for 30mi (or swapping him for Alexis and Song) is waaay better than doing business with Bayern over this okay striker...

Because he offers something different to Lukaku and Costa. He enables us to change the game (as numerous people have already pointed out in this thread).

From a tactical perspective it makes perfect sense.

[Pizy 18,419]

Why Mandzukic? It makes absolutely no sense!

Signing Costa, keeping Lukaku and selling Luiz to Barcelona for 30mi (or swapping him for Alexis and Song) is waaay better than doing business with Bayern over this okay striker...

Yeah, I personally think the keep Lukaku and swap Luiz with Sanchez scenario would be the best outcome. While I think Mandzukic would do a job for us in addition to Costa, I'd rather not lose Lukaku for him.

[Rmpr 8,977]

Because he offers something different to Lukaku and Costa. He enables us to change the game (as numerous people have already pointed out in this thread).

From a tactical perspective it makes perfect sense.

He offers things our team doesnt thrive on!

And no, from a tactical perspective it doesnt make any sense...

[Jype 6,398]

Kalou???

Not that much worse goalscoring ability.

I would say Mandzukic is a solid 15-20 league goal a season striker with good link-up play. Physically he is much like Dzeko, maybe a little stronger. Dominant in the air so he would have to be supplied with a lot of crosses to get the best out of him, not sure if at the moment we're set up to do that.

[The only place to be 11,313]

He offers things our team doesnt thrive on!

And no, from a tactical perspective it doesnt make any sense...

We're a counter-attacking team. Costa will lead that.

If teams sit deep then we tend to pump more crosses into the box - Mandzukic is an excellent aerial threat.

Lukaku really isn't necessary next season if we have both these players offering these options. So from a tactical sense it does make perfect sense, although I'd love to see you try and argue that it doesn't.

[Sidzeret 2,257]

Why isn't Luiz- Kroos swap isn't even been pointed out?

To me, it makes the most sense.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

We're a counter-attacking team. Costa will lead that.

If teams sit deep then we tend to pump more crosses into the box - Mandzukic is an excellent aerial threat.

Lukaku really isn't necessary next season if we have both these players offering these options. So from a tactical sense it does make perfect sense, although I'd love to see you try and argue that it doesn't.

We're gonna need three strikers not two. Lukaku is the young understudy.

[Chelsea Legend 11 4,062]

Why isn't Luiz- Kroos swap isn't even been pointed out?

To me, it makes the most sense.

Maybe because Kroos is going nowhere? Maybe because he doesn't want to come to Chelsea?

[The only place to be 11,313]

We're gonna need three strikers not two. Lukaku is the young understudy.

In 2012 Jose used Benzema and Higuain almost exclusively. Look how many minutes Ba got this year behind two average strikers. Lukaku simply won't get enough minutes in my opinion. I'd rather look at Drogba in a player-coach role or even use a youngster.