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.

What players in particular are you referencing? You cannot blame the club/Marina for not wanting to pay over the odds for players. My problem with the board is the targeting of transfers - how Conte or any manager doesn't have the final say over transfers baffles me. Granted, recently Conte seems to be getting his own way a bit more, but it took a massive kick up the arse after Burnley and Conte seemingly being annoyed at how pre-season had gone for this to happen

What's even more annoying looking back is that it was probably a very slight (and insignificant in the grand scheme of things) disagreement in price that the board were unwilling to budge on.

I can't see us dominating this game. Only way I can see us winning if its a gritty victory where we withstand a lot of pressure, but then again if one team are going to have such a victory it is Chelsea. If we keep Eriksen quiet, I don't think we lose the game...Easier said than done though.

Alderweireld is not as quick as Morata they will have to defend deep and leave a gap between midfield and defence I can see this game being similar to the Fa Cup semi final with them dominating the game. I don't think Tottenham will naturally play a deep defensive line because of Morata, he's not that quick. Morata has just got very clever movement off the ball paired with incredible technique. One thing he does lack is the physicality of Costa, I can't see Morata scoring some of the goals that Costa scored last year, for example the goal against West Brom at home or the one against City away. Then again I can't see Costa scoring some of the goals Morata will score, different players, both world-class.

Chelsea and Conte have been keen on Candreva for a long time now. And Candreva has played at RWB quite a lot over the past few years, particularly at Inter last season. The Walker bid was always audacious and I don't think even Conte himself considered that anything but a non-starter. As for Danilo, I can't imagine he could ever be anyone's first choice, very overrated.

Can I ask why you are averse to singing Van Dijk? I've expressed my concerns solely because I think we should be going for players other than CBs, just wondering your opinion. Aside from that, Dream and realistic i'm not so sure, however I hope we don't sign Drinkwater and I wouldn't be over the moon if we signed Ox

Think he wants Candreva for RWB, mate. If we're to believe reports, the board arent willing to sanction the move because he is 30, and therefore the board are opting for the younger Joao Cancelo.

I agree to an extent. Maybe in the case of Matic and Pogba I should have said potential to be in the top 3. Matic for large parts of last season was class, not so much towards the end however but he's still got it in him to be a top PL player. I do have high hopes for Bakayoko, I haven't seen much of him but seems like a box-to-box beast, an Essien type player. I hope he turns out to be worth his price tag

Don't understand how the board are insistent on buying young players with a re-sale value, then are actively pursuing Oxlade-Chamberlain who has 1 year left on his contract and the numbers being circulated are 30m+. Ox is a winger, certainly not a CM. I have never seen a midfield more dominated than when we beat Arsenal 3-1 last season when Ox was in the middle. We complain about Fabregas being a passenger when we don't have the ball but he is just as bad. Mourinho has got it spot on, to win the premiership you need a big, strong midfield. Matic + Pogba and Wanyama + Dembele are by the far best midfield pairing in the league; Kante will only take you so far.

Judging from what has come out recently, particularly Sky reporting that Chelsea expect Costa to return to training to compete for first team selection, I wouldn't be surprised if we see him back in a Chelsea shirt this season. He's on £150,000 a week and I imagine the board have usurped Conte's decision and insisted he's back in the squad at least - whether it is possibly to raise his transfer fee, who knows? Probably in all honesty. However after Batshuayi looking not good enough in the last 2 games, maybe Costa is required. Conte has always used 3-5-2 in his career, Morata and Costa up front in my view would compliment eachother well. Not sure if they've managed it for Spain but could see that partnership working.