If Pogba is going for 110,000,000 why wouldn't hazard go for a similar sum of money?

Instead of sniping at every post here, why not contribute an opinion? I would like to hear it.

Because the Pogba deal is different in every single way

Only a very small number of clubs can afford such a deal, Two are English clubs and even at that prize the transfer would be difficult, Barca and Real at the moment while of course could do such deals but it would be very difficult for them with the changes to the TV deals. PSG are a option of course but when you have a potential buyer of one it's a difficult transfer to get the very top money

It's unlikely to happen this season so 1)That would make is contract around 3 years left? And plus another year older.

We have no idea what Eden we will see next season. If he is anything other then 150% better then the player we say last season them anywhere near 100m is crazy

The Pogba deal is not your average deal even by today's standards you cannot compare future deals to it. It's a result of many different factors coming into play at the same time. a perfect storm if you like and they are rare. It's folly to hold any other transfers against it

A very good article by Conte on what the squad needs to do.

http://www.chelseafc.com/news/latest...ot-a-team.html

Last season there was a lack of togetherness, and when 1, 2 or 3 players stop pulling their weight, the whole team suffers. It doesn't take much. Yesterday, Real defenders closed us down very quickly especially in front of their defence.

Look at this clip showing Marcelo's first goal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGWHsM0tXl0

At the 1.29 mark, Traore makes no effort at all to try and close down, and Loftus Cheek was much worse. You often see Mikel doing similar and just watching an opposition player take a free shot on goal. At elite level, you can't do that. 1 or 2 lapses like that are the difference between winning and losing at world level.

Conte needs to drill his philosophy into the whole squad, the way Ferguson did at Man Utd. Then, any player coming in knows exactly what to do, and knows there are no places in the team for players who just want to score. You pull your weight, or you are out.

If a player is too tired to commit to the required work load, they need to say, and sit the match out.

Can't understand anyone having a go at Hazard. It was clear what was happening last season, and the management was diabolical.

I'm against signing Lukaku back as well - for any fee. The fact we're even entertaining the idea bothers me. Putting the absurd and ridiculous fees being quoted to one side, Lukaku isn't good enough for us. He has a poor first touch, average link-up play and given his size, his aerial threat is really poor. We have many players in our squad who turnover possession with the slightest amount of pressure on them; we do not need to add another player on that list.

Stay clear.


The Baba loan is a strange one - the last thing we need to be doing is weakening our options in defence. Pending any future transfers, It seems Azpi is going to continue playing at LB too. Whilst Azpi is great defensively on the left, it would nice to play with FBs who are capable of providing attacking support that does not consist of an aimless cross into the 18 yard box.

Perhaps if we played azpi in his best position, we would see more of an end product going forward

I've only seen highlights of yesterday's game and read the reports, but it's not encouraging. A Real Madrid without Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema etc basically played us off the park in the first half.
In the second half (presumably wanting to make a game of it) they brought on some of their youth players and we managed to get into the game. Fair enough, we had several key players missing as well, and it was only a glorified friendly. But the first half was still uncomfortable viewing. Massive crowd though..105,000 !

Still no CB, Baba Rahman out on loan with no replacement in sight, and strong rumours that Costa is leaving. A couple of weeks till the start of the season, what the hell is going on ?

Rahman was a shocking purchase, way out of his depth.

who was responsible for that?

I would say the person who is still in a job at Chelsea though I know you are desperate to think it's someone else.

Yes, £14m with add-ons that could take it past £20m. He looked half-decent going foward but poor defensively. Then we send out Nathan Ake out on loan again after a reasonable season at Watford. I do wonder about the logic of our decisions sometimes.

Let's hope we have a replacement in mind, otherwise it's Ola Aina (relatively untried) or Ivanovic (long past his best) at RB, with Azpil at LB and a out of position Kenedy providing cover. Couple that with our ageing CB's (until Zouma is hopefully back) and it doesn't look like the kind of Chelsea back four we've grown used to.

If Conte is as good as others are saying then he should have been able to work on Rahman's defensive frailties. If we were on the brink of signing someone else then maybe I would understand it. Right now it seems like a(nother) mental decision.

Ricardo Rodriguez would be a great signing at LB. If we were looking I would have thought he'd be high on the list.

Yes, I don't think Papy Djilobodji, Baba Rahman or Michael Hector were on the wish list Jose gave to Emenalo. Pedro might have been, but I'm not even sure about that.
Perhaps the difference in the players Mourinho was looking for and the quality of the players brought in was the start of the problems ?

I am sure you know that.

The main person responsible for transfers is a gentlemen called Michael Emenalo.

If you do a little bit of research into how your club is run I am sure you would find that out.

Yes of course you will ignore the facts and put the blame at someone else's door due his current employers

You say this, but weren't you particularly critical of Mata being offloaded for that reason?

Agree with this.


And this.

To be fair, a manager doesn't expect to come to a club like Chelsea and find he needs to teach their only recognised LB how to defend. But I do think we've shipped him out on loan a bit quickly. Other top clubs were following Rahman's progress before we signed him, he's probably a better player than we've seen.

Rodriguez would certainly be an improvement. He's another who can be a bit suspect defensively, but as an attacking wing-back he's on an entirely different level to Rahman.

True. But with some quality coaching it should be achievable, whereas the only way to fix Ivanovic is with a time machine. I'm hoping Conte will see that even if Mourinho and Hiddink wouldn't/couldn't.

Since I posted earlier we are now being linked with LB's. Rodriguez and some guy I've never heard of from PSV. My preference is that we go for the player our manager will use.

Apparently 68 million bid for lukaku rejected!

Is anyone really truly surprised at the transfers so far?

The people in charge of transfers has not changed. The Batshuayi signing looks like it was only wrapped up when it was because other teams started getting serious about moving for him.

The problem is where it has been for a while now, We just don't have the people in place that can do transfers at this level. We have the money and the name and the manager but as it hold true with the players performance from last season it is no use having the tools if they are not implemented correctly.

If Guss is still part of our plans going forward I would put him in charge of transfers. He has the name value,Is intelligent and knows his away around not only the football clubs BUT the business side of football clubs as well. Would even look at bringing in someone like Avam to work along side him, He has a excellent name in football and would have extensive contacts. Yes we would need someone else to work along side them on the business side of things BUT it would be a start towards getting a team that can work with the manager. There needs to be a strong connection with the manager and the person responsible for ensuring the manager has the best tools available, Wenger & Dien and SAF and Martin Edwards etc.

Its basic business sense 101 and something that has been lacking at Chelsea for a number of years, In the past our financial muscle has meant that those shortcomings have not been as damaging as they could have been, As clubs catch up with us money wise those shortcomings are coming more and more to the front

Very encouraging second half.

Eden, Michy, Cuadradro, Moses, JT & Chalobah impressed.

RLC and Traore just not working up front.

So, IF we are to believe Diego wants out, why the hell have we left all this to the last minute?

I suppose now AM have signed Gameiro, it means he is staying with us for the time being but he had better get his head straight, can't see AC putting up with any sulking.

Not keen at all on resigning Lukaku. He is so inconsistent and has the first touch of a combine harvester.

I wish I could share your optimism. Cuadrado looked OK, but I'll be happier when I see him against EPL opposition in a serious game. Moses has frequently impressed in pre-season games. Chalobah ? Yes, it could be his break-through season, looks better than RLC right now. Batshuayi should be fine as a secondary striker and Hazard we know is world class when he's on his game.
It's a bit worrying that JT is still our best CB though. We hopefully have Zouma to come back but we're desperately in need of another top class central defender. We had problems at LB (or RB depending where you play Azpil) before Rahman was loaned out, now it's even worse. We've strengthened the midfield (providing Matic stays) but our back four looks the weakest for many years.

I certainly wouldn't be keen on signing Lukaku for that kind of money if Costa is staying, but if Costa is leaving he might be the best option that is realistically available. I'd be against forcing Costa to stay if he really wants to go, that rarely works in my opinion.
But it seems strange to me. Costa would presumably want to go back to Atletico, we'd surely want £45/50m minimum in today's market. Have they got that kind of money ?

Atletico signing Gamiero was supposed to end the speculation. It's somehow made it worse. (tho, If they want to fund a deal by giving us Griezmann I'd be all for it.)

Costa looks like he's heading away. If only he could have tamed those reactions.. It amazes me that none of the coaching staff could have taken him to one side and got his head right. Wilkins was great at that.

Lukaku for £65 million +? Crazy money. He's worth up to £45 million and that's it. He's not quick enough and misses too much, especially big penalties in high pressure matches.

I'm no head scout, but I'm sure there are bargains to be had out there. Look at Southampton with Pele, Leicester with many of their big names, and even Liverpool back when they picked up Suarez for a lot less then they got for Carroll.

The need seems to be a striker who is big, strong, can link the play, hold the ball up and score when through on goal. There must be a few out there for a lot less than Lukaku surely? That's what the scouts are paid for.

The only way costa can go back to AM is if greizmann comes the other way.

I would not be happy if we ended up:

Selling Costa to AM for 40 million
Buying Lukaku from Everton for 70 million

Don't think anyone would be happy with that. Lukaku would be a downgrade on Costa. It's one thing signing him to increase our options upfront and even then I question the amount, but to have him as our main striker? No thanks.