KentPaul

Do you not think Alonso has pace and athleticism? Certainly not of the level of a top-class winger but it's not uncommon to see him beat several men bombing down the wing. I think Zap looked a little lost when he came on yesterday but there was a period when Leicester were coming on quite strong and the whole defence looked a bit shaky. Should have done better with that opportunity he had too, but it's still very early and I am hopeful he can become a quality player for us. At least we have some serious cover for the wing-back position now!

Even despite all of the let downs today, i'm still expecting a deadline hour madness....when will I learn?

With Boga and potentially Musonda out on loan, Mahrez will mean we have 4 attacking midfielders/wingers which probably is the right amount, too much pressure on Hazard to perform sometimes. He's gonna have to learn to press more though - something he's been criticised for at Leicester for not doing enough.

Absolutely, so lets hope Conte can work his magic on Zappa too

From my limited knowledge of Zappa, I think he's certainly more of a fullback than a wingback, however have heard some Italian journalists say he can definitely get forward and put a good cross in. Although I like the deal, seems strange because normally Azpilicueta filled in whenever we needed a FB rather than WB and he's the best in the world. Suppose more can't hurt though, would have thought LWB was the priority over RWB though to be fair. EDIT: Just seen he got 5 assists and 1 goal last year in Serie A, no defender in the Prem got more than 5 assists i think.

Looking like a new winger and new rightback are imminent, still no CM or LWB. busy day ahead i think

It's quite amazing how many signings we've missed out on this year. To name a few off the top of my head: Danilo, Lukaku, Walker, Ox, Sanches, Sandro, Candreva, and also looking like Drinkwater and Barkley.

There is no doubt that Kante propped Drinkwater up massively in my opinion. But I respect your response and opinion, I just don't share it for the most part. As a side-note, what do you make of Mahrez? He's obviously another one I believe under-performed last year, but has looked sharp so far this season.

Fair point, but Kante won the league last year without Drinkwater, Drinkwater and Leicester were fighting relegation for much of the season. Can i ask, as you're a Leicester fan why are you on a Chelsea forum?

Can't believe people are saying Mikel, I thought he was useless, offered nothing. I think the best way to look at this question is who have we sold that we later went on to regret. The ones that stick out are De Bruyne and Lukaku obviously, especially as neither were really given a fair chance. Ballack is a good mention though as others have pointed out, but I think he still was amazing for us. Felipe Luis stands out as well because he would be quality in Conte's system, good at going forward and defensively.

Nonsense? Drinkwater's pass accuracy was down, shot accuracy down, won less tackles, scored less goals, had fewer assists. To me that's a worse season and certainly doesn't justify a 40m price tag.

I never mentioned Moses, I was talking about Ox coming in to play RWB. But as you mentioned it I do think that Moses is probably the weakest link in the team, was fantastic first half of last season then ever since he is so wasteful, especially if you compare to Alonso who isn't amazing defensively but his delivery and ability to score goals is unrivaled in the league. I see what you mean with Aurier, but I was just trying to highlight the confusion I have at signing Right wingers for RWB when there are RBs going for half as much. I also think a large part of the reason PSG are getting rid is that he carries a lot of baggage as he's probably better than Meunier who i think is their current no1 RB

Fair enough, that does make sense. Just crazy that he rejected us because he wants to play in centre midfield, doubt he'd get that at Liverpool either.

Baffles me that we'd be signing Ox as a RWB anyway, especially when Aurier is going to Spurs today for a lot less. Surely its better having a wing-back who is good at defending and making them better going forward than the other way round - especially when you have Hazard and Willian/Pedro in front of them anyway.

Drinkwater is one of those players you'd take on a free, however paying 40m is ridiculous. Looked lost last year without Kante. Mad thinking how players like Matuidi and Tolisso have gone for similar prices or less to what Drinkwater is allegedly valued at.