Ruh Buh Juh

Contrary to a few I have high hopes for Marin, and think he may surprise a few. My brother keeps an eye on the Bundesliga religiously and he rates Marin, alongside the likes of Gotze, Schurrle and Reus - don't rule him out just yet. As for the topic at hand, something isn't sitting quite right yet, BBC Sport tweeted earlier saying we made a statement to associated press saying "As with all transfers, when we have something to announce we will announce it in the usual way". Now, that's not denying it, if it was complete bollocks that he was coming to us then a statement would probably have come out, but it's not confirming anything at all. I'll be keeping an eye on the Blues News Headlines tomorrow at 1, that's for sure.

I'm with the select few who are waiting for official confirmation, but I'm 99% certain he's ours...

Fair point, they did for Robinho if I remember rightly, maybe they're avoiding jinxing it :P

Usually Chelsea TV address rumours briefly on Blues News, nothing mentioned yet. Not happening today, lads.

A month!

Fantastic news. We're lucky to have him.

@Chris_Cohen, the Chelsea TV presenter, has tweeted a few times today, very cryptically: 3 hours ago: "I’m hearing exciting Chelsea related news!" 1 hour ago: "Can't tweet and drive so I've stopped to put my hazard lights on...#saynomore" If I remember rightly, he did have some interesting things to say before we signed Mata, like on August 19th 2011 he just tweeted "Mata!" and 5 days later it was officially announced...

I think he's done the right thing, let the Lille fans know where they stand, rather than a "will he or won't he leave" scenario considering all the rumours. Let them know and then they can see him off and he can give them a thanks and a goodbye after his last game. I've kept an eye on them yeah, I don't think he's done anything wrong. The fact he came out and said that after we won the CL, he said it "makes him think" shows to me that it's definitely not about the money to him, it's about success and trophies. All three teams leading the race for his signature can give him that.

I don't understand that theory, about how he's dealt with the saga. He's been very rational, what would you have done if Man City, one of the richest clubs in the world and current English Champions, Man Utd, one of the most famous clubs in the world with 19 Premiership titles to their name and 3 European Cups, and Chelsea, another of the world's richest clubs and current European Champions (can't say that enough!) came asking to sign you? You wouldn't make an on the spot decision, you weigh up all the pros and cons of each and make a rational decision based on where you want your next career move to be. Perfectly understandable.

For the last hour or so I've lived in a suspended reality where Hazard to Chelsea was basically a done deal. Man U rumours hotting up on Twitter. Getting nervous.

Twitter is exploding right now with Hazard to Chelsea "done deal" claims. Hazard tweeted "good afternoon guys. i made up my mind. see you later. thanks" so the theory is he's going to announce today who he's signing for. But that could just be people reading far too much into "see you later." Knowing Twitter, probably that.

Zola is arguably the greatest player in Chelsea history, his #25 shirt has become legend, and you expect us to give it to a Belgian winger in his first season should he come here?

Zola's #25 has been retired I think, but that's ridiculous that you'd even suggest anyone should wear the number.

He's decent, nothing more and nothing less, have no problem with him sticking around, it's not as if he's on £100,000 a week is it? Plus lest we forget his debut was only against tiny Barcelona at the Bridge which we won 1-0.

My only issue with this signing is that he wants to play regularly and in the middle, and he can get lost if he thinks he can come in and suddenly bump our Player of the Year out of his best position.

In the league maybe, but he did score once for us against Porto in the Champions League. Not the worst signing ever, then.

Called Sweden to win it after the Semi-Final the other day. What the actual hell was the Albania act about? That was glorified cats drowning. I question why the UK bothers to compete anymore

I remember reading that the reason Torres looked a bit miffed was that he put himself forward to take a penalty, he wanted to take one, he wanted to contribute, but RDM didn't put him in the first 5, or even first 6 after Gary said he was after Drogs had he missed. If that's true, fair play to Nando for showing bottle in wanting to take one, something that can't be said for Anelka in 2008.

Proposed alternative to penalties: Both captains get given a fruit pastille and put it in their mouth. Last person to chew wins.

Just watched Drogba's header & penalty. Still haven't got over it. Champions of Europe, who'd have thought it?

Why is this still in General? Rumours, surely!

I remember being furious with Drogs' run up, but thinking about it, it was actually a really smart move. A shorter run up means the keeper has less of an idea what direction you're going, and Drogs sent Neuer the wrong way. But on topic, Cech was absolutely unbelievable on Saturday. Saving half of the penalties he faced that night is nothing short of magnificent. What a hero.

"Who needs Messi, we've got Kalou!"

We need an injection into the squad for sure, but I see no problem in keeping the "old guard" around for as long as possible. A few players are out of contract now anyway (Kalou definitely, Bosingwa might be as well, Drogba looks like he's leaving) so that'll open up a few spaces where we need to invest or promote the youth (whether it's Hutch or Kane) to being the second choice RB behind Ivan. I definitely feel like we need another central midfielder unless Essien and Romeu can step it up. There are a lot of variables to consider, Marin coming in is going to be a boost, De Bruyne will presumably go out on loan, Lukaku too but that would mean we need a striker to be Torres' substitute, Sturridge can play there but I prefer him on the right; someone like Schurrle would go down a treat. Squad for next season: GK: Cech, Courtois, Blackman RB: Ivanovic, Hutch, new signing CB: JT, Luiz, Cahill, Chalobah, Ivan (optional) LB: Cole, Bertrand CM: Lamps, Mikel, Ramires, Essien, Romeu LW: Marin, Sturridge (opt), new signing CAM: Mata, Piazon RW: Sturridge (opt), Ramires (opt), new signing ST: Torres, Sturridge (opt), new signing Out: Drogba, Bosingwa, Kalou, Malouda It's difficult though, as Gem said, with our current squad we won the Champions League. We should invest here and there, but I don't think an ENORMOUS overhaul is necessary. PS: Just counted, the squad I just listed complies perfectly with the 25 man squad rule, plus Blackman, Chalobah, Piazon are all under 21 and wouldn't count toward the 25 so we'd have another 3 spots available.

Cundy is such a legend, I wish he still did the commentary, so many games I've actually hoped it was Cundy commentating because his reactions are absolutely priceless. "SHUT UP! SHUT UP! LET HIM DO THIS, THIS IS HIS DESTINY!"