Tarantino

They got spanked in the CL They reached the semis. We didn't even manage to qualify for the last 16. There are replacements lined up, don't you worry. The fact that we don't know about them doesn't mean they are not there.

You've got a point but still, it's different. Varane was just one out of the bunch, with Lukaku is different. He is striker, he is expected to deliver titles, he is expected to score 30+ goals in all competitions. I'm not saying he is not capable of it - just that I don't expect Jose to put all that pressure on him immediately. He will introduce him step by step.

Chill Hoagy

Exactly, Negredo, Jovetic, Navas... I also forgot about Higuain who joined Napoli for 30-ish M...

Cavani - 65M Falcao - 60M Neymar - 57M Rodriguez - 45M Fernandinho - 40M Götze - 37M Marquinhos - 35M Isco - 30M Illaramendi - 30M Mkhitaryan - 27,5M That's a top 10 so far. If you also consider Bale, Suarez and Rooney are about to swap clubs... just name me more exciting transfer summer in the past few years.

You serious, this is possibly the most exciting summer transfer window in the last few years.

If we don't get Rooney, Torres will be the first choice next season, that's for sure. No matter how much I like Lukaku and expect him to be world class forward soon, I cannot believe certain people in here actually expect a 20 year old to take all the pressure on him and lead the team through Premier League and Champions League. Even worse, expecting Jose to put all that pressure on a 20 year old. Not gonna happen.

But if they will get 80 mil during, idk, next 2 or 3 years, then they still can get 80 mil worth players this summer and pay for them over 3 years period.

Not gonna happen, in recent interview Mourinho said his favourite formation is 4-2-3-1 and that will be the one he will be employing most of the time. Sometimes, he says he will switch AM to DM and sometimes if we are behind, he will play with two strikers.

Yeah you all know better than Mourinho! From the day I joined here I've been saying that it was because of wrong system that Torres doesn't score, that we need to play counter attacking football instead of possession to get goals out of Torres, and that when Jose comes he will employ that. And everyone was like "man, what the hell you talking about"? Neither Ancelotti, AVB nor Di Matteo couldn't figure this out, so much of them being "top coaches". All one had to do was watch two or three Liverpool games while Torres was there and it would be clear to you.

Ball winning midfielder -> support.

No problem, long but quality. I understand what are you saying, and I agree with everything, but then again, you think Rooney is the one that can lead this club to glory? You are absolutely right, we need real number 9, we need experienced, big games player, we need a striker that can come up with "magic" when everyone else is having the bad day... but now when Falcao, Cavani, and Lewandowski are not available, I'm not sure who should we go after?! Rooney's wages are huge and that's the biggest turn off for me to be honest.

That is a lie, I provided stats in the other thread where it says Higuain is the most clinical striker in Europe when it comes to league games. That's what you all want, right? A striker who is scoring in the league. People slate Torres because his dreadful league form, and now we are slating Higuain for his dreadful form in Europe. If you want striker who is scoring in both domestic and European games then you have to pay 50M+. But for 25-30 mil, I would take Higuain in a blink of an eye.

Jose knows best, and he managed him in Madrid. Better option than Suarez in my opinion.

Do you really think he would change his style if he join us? He is selfish, dwells too much on the ball, therefore nowhere near the player that would fit in our direct style of play.

Suarez is one of the most wasteful strikers in the world at the moment. His goal tally is good but no one pays attention to how much shots he really takes every game. In reality, Suarez's conversion rate in PL last season was only 12.29%, which means that during 33 games he started, he shot 187 times and scored 23, which in turn means that he scores a goal every 8.13 shots. Very bad. I don't want striker who takes million shots every game and still doesn't get to score at least one per game. On the other hand, Mario Gomez and Higuain are the most clinical strikers in Europe last season - Higuain has 16 goals from 56 shots which gives him a 28.57% conversion rate (3.5 shots per goal), and Gomez has 11 goals from 38 shots which gives him a 28.94% conversion rate (3.45 shots per goal) from 9 starts, 12 substitute appearances. So I pray that Arsenal get Suarez instead of Higuain. Just like I was hoping we get Gomez, and instead he went to Fiorentina for ridiculous fee of 17 million.

Ok, regardless of this particular transfer, what the f**k means when someone is "preparing a bid"??? What, do they open the safe and count the money, then putting it on the table in front and making a pile out of it?

Kießling for striker.

Regardless, Romeu is going on loan, De Rossi will take number 6, everyone's happy.

Mourinho isn't going for TQ because he wants the hard worker in the centre of the attack. And TQs are usually lazy. Since he will probably not play with two strikers, he doesn't need different player to Lukaku, but same type, replacement for Lukaku or Lukaku to be new striker's replacement, without changing system. That's why in his strikers shortlist you can only find players with high work rate - Cavani, Lewandowski, Rooney. And that's probably why he didn't go for Gomez.

1. Chelsea 2. City 3. Tottenham 4. Arsenal 5. United 6. Liverpool

Mourinho was quoted today as saying that Higuain is the laziest player he ever managed so I doubt we will go after him...

Gomez to Fiorentina, for 17 mil. What a shame we didn't go for him. My next best option is Jackson Martinez.

What number he chose I somehow slept on that

As cfc88 noted, Matic situation could be compared to Javi Martinez one. When Bayern got him for 40 mil everyone were laughing their ass off, now is Heynckes the one who is laughing. Now, 45 mil for Matic is much, but I don't think they will hold on that price, I see him going for 35, which is a great deal. Anyway, we will see how things turn out, I would be more than happy with De Rossi as well just think Matic is a better option.