KentPaul

Could tell we were missing Hazard today - no cutting edge in the final third. Just seemed to play at such a slow pace; whenever we won the ball there was rarely any urgency to get forward. I think Batshuayi is no way near the quality needed to lead the line on his own, especially when he's so isolated upfront. Thankfully Bakayoko is full of energy so I imagine for the season a lack of energy in the middle wont be too much of a persistent problem, but getting Willian and Pedro on the ball in meaningful positions today looked like such an effort. That Arsenal side is poor, we should have beaten them in all honesty.

I think you've misunderstood my point. It's fine buying for the future, but it's clear that we are not even buying for this season. If we were buying for this season we wouldn't be buying another centre-half for 60m when we are lacking players in every other position.

I'm all for signing players of Van Dijk's quality, however more CBs is definitely the last thing I would have thought we'd be looking for. Apart from GK, literally the position with the most quality and depth in the whole squad.

I think what happens a lot nowadays is there tends to be a lot of 'backdoor' negotiation through the players/clubs intermediaries such as agents and other representatives. No official bid would have been made but I imagine there would have been a lot of talking to get a feel for the general interest of the player and a rough estimate of what price the player would be available at. At the moment it doesn't look like it's going anywhere so I imagine we'd need to step it up a gear soon; make some more noise in the press or put in an official bid to get things moving properly.

Is he actually injured or is he just being carefully managed? I've seen some reports that he could be ready for Sunday so he'll probably be fit enough come the start of the season, although with no preseason.

Danny Drinkwater No surprise that as soon as Kante left Leicester their midfield went to sh*t. Gets a lot of credit for running around and passing sideways a lot. Can not be signing players with the mentality that "it's ok because they're our 4th choice" because playing over 50 games a year rotation is key, plus injuries are always likely. Our substitute players have to be good enough to win a league and be of Champions League quality if they are playing for Chelsea.

Luckily our "panic buys" (considering for ages we were desperate for a LB but especially another CB) in Luiz and Alonso last summer ended up being really good signings. However it's nerving to go into August - weeks away from the season starting - and still needing 3-4 players to be real contenders in all competitions this year. As @Sindre said, there is no reason that we can't get our business done earlier - every other team has. What is the most probable situation now is that we'll end up with players that Conte doesn't really even want. The two most heavily linked players recently are Alex Sandro and Renato Sanches and the rumours for each have been rubbished by their club managers today so the situation is becoming even more dim by the day.

Fabregas in a 2 in midfield is a worry, however I think if we start well and get a good hold of the game early, we should be ok. We're especially vulnerable with Fabregas when the opposition's midfield is going to dominate. Thankfully, Arsenal's midfield isn't of the same quality as Tottenham's who would/have overrun us in the middle of the park. From both games against Inter and Bayern, it seemed as if we got hit on the break a lot and it looked very easy for them to do so. Trouble with our current midfield is that Kante is a ball winning midfielder: hes everywhere and doesn't sit in front of the defence like Makelele used to do or even Matic on occasion, and also with Fabregas, as we all know when he hasn't got the ball at his feet he's not the most useful. It's not hard to realise why we get countered so easily when all it takes is one ball through the midfield and they're through to the backline.

Heard the same from Juventus about Pogba. If Sandro decides he wants to leave, nothing to suggest that Juventus will get in his way judging from their previous outgoings. However that's the key, Sandro will have to force a move.

Seems like a Football Manager 2017 shortlist to me. All good players though, probably would cost a lot because I think most are settled however we do need strengthening in all the areas you pointed out. Could do a lot worse!

Agree with your post, however i'm not sold on City's wingbacks, both Mendy and Walker aren't great defensively. Like most I think that with Kante and Bakayoko in midfield who lack natural creativity, I think our wingbacks are going to be key to any success we have. Alonso has never convinced me defensively however going forward he has a good cross and does score occasionally, but Moses lacks defensively and going forward he always seems to fail to put a good cross in or he picks the wrong pass. I think Conte's immediate concern - aside from strengthening in midfield - should be to bring in better wing-backs especially as in both positions there isn't a natural replacement for either. I haven't seen much of Alex Sandro but judging from Juventus' defensive record he must be decent

40m+ for a 29 year old who doesn't contribute enough in either attack or defence is a good deal in my opinion. My only worry is that we'll be going into the season with 3 Centre-midfielders, especially as none are out-and-out defensive midfielders. Can definitely see 2 more CMs arriving in the next few weeks, but as of now I can't really tell who that will be which is worrying. Shame that whilst all of our tital rivals seem to be getting stronger, adding where they are short and have now got a fully sorted team, Chelsea are still seemingly 4-5 players away from having a complete squad.

A loan with an option to buy would be a good signing. Certainly need 1 or 2 more midfielders and I think he's a pretty good all-round centre midfielder and will only get better considering hes so young. Don't think he'd be a starter though which is the reason he's keen to leave so whether or not it will happen i'm unsure. At this stage with only 2 solid, proven first team CMs as it looks like Matic is gone i'd take anyone to be fair!

It seems as if Conte is testing out this 3-5-2 system which I believe is what he has gone for most of his career. Can see Fabregas, Kante and Baka all starting in midfield in the PL with Hazard floating however I hope i'm wrong. Chelsea's strength has always been the wide players which we'd lack if we went for 3 in the middle. Is a shame though because i completely agree with your analysis of Fabregas - he can be the difference sometimes and to not use him effectively is a crime but he can't play in a 2.

Irrespective of the scoreline, Chelsea were poor today. No creativity in the final third and Batshuayi looked so lethargic. Baffles me that Conte persisted with Batshuayi and Morata up top together (or whatever was happening, I couldn't tell) when Inter were playing so narrow. Morata looked class whenever he got the ball but could never do anything with it. The game was crying out to go back to the system we played last year with the wide players with Morata as the sole centre forward. Musonda did look sharp though, just worry that the PL will be too fast and physical for him - especially as he looks about 15.

Absolutely, however as we all know Arsenal are run like a business, not a football club and he has one year left on his contract. I imagine they held a similar position before selling Van Persie to United for 20m~ a few years ago

Talking about transfer fees is strange as a fan as it at the end of the day is not our money we are spending and we should ultimately want the best players at the club irrespective of the cost. However we should consider that the money to be spent on transfers is finite and therefore we should want it to be spent in the right way. Although I think Sanchez would be an amazing addition to the team, however as others have rightly pointed out, we'd have to be careful not to spend over the odds on a 28-year old, explosive player. Paying 60m with 200k+ a week wages for a player who we'd likely get 2-3 years at his peak left would be poor business - especially considering he has 1 year left on his contract. I have to add that despite how much id love this transfer, I cant see Arsenal selling him to us, although if he expresses a desire to leave then in this day and age player power always seem to prevail.

I agree with your analysis for the most part, however Azpilicueta is a few inches shorter than Ake and he more than makes up for it with his other abilities. If Ake would have played he would have inevitably played in a similar way to Azpi albeit on the left side of the 3 instead - particularly as he simply is not physically imposing enough to play in the center in my opinion. In all honesty to get 20m for Ake is good business, would never be good enough to start for the team and I think a lot of fans' desire to see the youth promoted clouds their judgment a lot of the time. If I remember correctly, he was in and out of the team when on loan at Bournemouth last season, and if he did play it was normally at left back. There was no need to recall him last year and I think the fact that he scored a few key goals overshadowed the fact that he was kept out of the Bournemouth side by Cook and Francis. Christensen holds a lot more promise: was a starter at a top German side and has experienced European football level over the past few years. Where I think Christensen has an edge is that he looks more than capable on the ball which is crucial for a modern centre back. I also think Monchengladbach played a similar defensive system to Chelsea so hopefully will adapt far quicker.