I guess the gamble with waiting until after the clause expires is whether rival clubs are doing the same as you say. It could then end up a tug of war for him which we may not be prepared to enter into.

I agree with you though that surely Lewandowski would be the cheaper option with only one year to run on his contract. Would be just as good a signing as Cavani, but whether he'd be interested in a move to us is anyone's guess.

Also, two fantastic goals by Cavani v Italy. Shows why everyone wants to sign him for £50m odd. I think he would be a great signing, seems like a natural goal scorer which is what we sorely need. Torres has never really been that. I would rate him as just behind Falcao in terms of out and out strikers in the world at the moment.

Also i think people are forgetting he is in Brazil at the moment and probably only thinking about the confederations cup rather than where he will be next season. I suspect in a few weeks we may know who he has decided though. I dont think the release clause end date(if true) will matter much as it will only mean Napoli can demand more money for him. Im sure he will go for the release clause.

He was poor all through last season IMO (like a lot of City players). Seems to have escaped most peoples notice though.

Well the stories are that we are currently offering Napoli £45m which they are obviously rejecting as they know they can still get £54m for him.

As you say though, if the clause was to expire and a host of clubs jump in, whoever does sign him could end up paying more than £54m anyway.

If we really do want him, then Abramovich will have to offer the release clause fee. If the desire is there to get him I can't see Roman quibbling about £9m which means he isn't sure if he wants him or he's more a Jose target than a Roman one.

In regards to Lewandowski, it appears Dortmund are happy to sell to anyone apart from Bayern, for obvious reasons. Therefore I can't see them rejecting a decent offer should they receive one from us or another non German club,

There are top strikers available in this window, it depends on what the club are prepared to do to get them.

Lewandowski wants Bayern. I think he'll be happy to just run his contract down

After the Confederations Cup completes tonight, the speculation will only increase. He knows he's the top striker available in this window and so until he says or does something to to end the rumours, they will just continue.

I agree with your comparison of him to Falcao. For me they are the top two strikers currently playing in Europe. Monaco, by signing Falcao have got themselves someone who will score them goals and should assist in enabling them to achieve success fairly quickly.

Cavani has had the opportunity to state he wants to stay at Napoli but hasn't done so. However if a club really wanted him they could offer £54m tomorrow and Napoli would have no say in the matter, so really not all the blame should be with Cavani. The clubs interested in him are stalling on this also.

Luiz has just added another £5m to his worth, what a goal line clearance!

Why the heck would we want to sell David Luiz?

Awesome play there.

We dont, it was hopefully just paper talk!

Must've been. He's a tremendous talent. Jose will know that also.

Same goes for Mata.

Brazil have been really impressive, absolutely outstanding first 45 mins from them. In comparison Spain have looked rubbish.

Luiz, Oscar and Neymar all shining look like top class players. Unbelievable block off the line by Luiz, i was sure it was a goal.

Apparently ten years ago today, a certain Russian bought you, good decision overall wasn't it?

very good for both parties!

I thought Mata got unfairly criticized by the BBC tonight, he wasn't as bad as half of that Spanish team today. At least he created a real chance, what the hell did Pedro, Iniesta and Xavi do ? These Barcelona players can't seem to do any wrong in that team.

We know how good Mata is. He was our best player this season.

Don't know where this talk of him leaving the club has come from, but we all appreciate him and his talent.

I agree, fantastic team performance by Brazil. Luiz was cool and impressive at the back, that off-the-line clearance was one of the best I've ever seen.
Gustavo and Paulinho were outstanding in their defensive midfield roles, the type of players we've been missing.
Oscar was involved with everything, what an intelligent player he is. Neymar was superb, looked dangerous every time he touched the ball. What a pity we couldn't have signed him, can you imagine him linking up with our midfield trio.
Full marks to Fred as well, he's always the forgotten man but he rarely fails to do the business.

Poor game for Mata, but Spain were outclassed from start to finish, so it's probably a game he'll want to quickly forget.

I've never rated Pedro as highly as the Spanish fans seem to.

10 years ago today Roman took over for you guys I'm hearing. A funny story about how Greame Souness was asked to pick him up at Manchester airport and did so... tried talking to him about football but Roman ignored him as he thought he was just a driver; and clearly they don't talk to their drivers in Russia... didn't realise his driver had won the European Cup 3 times. Made me chuckle.

Love or hate him, he's changed the landscape of Chelsea and arguably the PL forever; you've won a boat load of trophies and a boat load of managers.

Glad I stayed up for that game, congratulations to David Luiz, Oscar and Dave. What a goal line clearance!!

Commiserations to Juan and Nando but well done for winning Golden Boot!

Right, get some bleeding rest now!!!

i'm just pleased the rumours about signing Hopeless Hulk have died down.

I was just thinking that myself.

We already have the golden boot of the tournament, and of the one before that!

Let's not fool ourselves. Torres only got the golden boot due to Tahiti being such a poor side. Whilst you can only score against the team in front of you, this doesn't suddenly mean he's back in business. If we could get £15m back I'd take it and move on.

I never said he was back, was just congratulating him, rather a Chelsea player won it than someone else. Winning matches, competitions...awards...etc...breeds confidence so it can only be a good thing.

We would get much more than £15m for him!

Probably worth 25m to 30m

It's probably the most hollow golden boot award I've seen in my lifetime, even Chelsea fans must agree?

One of Uruguays reserve strikers scored four against Tahiti, and saw no more action in the tournament. Unfortunately for Spain the same can't be said for Torres.

On Abramovich, I remember watching sky sports news the day he bought Chelsea. I predicted then they would go on to spend hundreds of millions, and challenge for all trophies in a very short space of time. I guess I was right in that respect.