Celery1989

The Summer looks to be very interesting and something worth keeping an eye on which could directly relate to the Costa situation is what happens to Antoine Griezmann. It looks as if he will be off after this season and there's been a lot of speculation about United pursuing him. Say they were to sign him for close to £100m as has been suggested then you can bet Atletico Madrid would be back in for Costa. All speculation on my part here but something worth bearing in mind.

He wanted to leave last Summer but was persuaded otherwise. I'm sure it could happen again. SSN even were saying that Jorge Mendes is using the offer from China as leverage to get Costa a better contract at Chelsea.

Sorry to quote myself but to stress the point, Sky and some of the tabloids were saying that 'showdown talks' were due tomorrow, but now Matt Law in the Telegraph claims that there are no special talks planned at all.

Exactly. I've seen so much conflicting information from different media outlets both in the UK and abroad that it's very difficult to get any kind of clarity on what is going on. Apparently Conte and Costa are due to sit down tomorrow to discuss the situation. Ahead of the Hull it seems clear that they will have to have a meeting. I have a hunch that a compromise will be found - Costa stays until the end of the season when he might well leave. The optimist in me hopes that we can sign him to a new deal at some stage but that seems unlikely.

Of course if Costa was intelligent, rational and level-headed he'd realise that more offers will come in the Summer. And if he's a title winner and/or top goalscorer then he'll get offered even greater money, especially if multiple clubs enter the bidding. But I don't think Costa is particularly bright unfortunately.

Just a point I'd like to make on the accusations of greed levelled at Costa. It's important to remember Costa's origins, and the same should be said for Oscar as well. A lot of Brazilian footballers come from incredibly poor backgrounds - I'm sure you all have read/watched programmes about the favelas where many people live. Money means opportunity for these guys, and not just for them personally, but for their families as well. It wouldn't surprise me if there are several members of Costa's immediate and more extended family at least partly living off Costa's wages back home. Just imagine the impact that the wages on offer in China could have on their livelihoods? If the reports of the bid are true, then I can only imagine that Costa could be under a lot of pressure from various different members of his family, not to mention of course his agent, representatives etc. as well. If I was in Costa's shoes, ultimately I'd do what is best for my career, which would be to stay at Chelsea at least until the Summer and re-evaluate then. But at the same time, none of us know what Costa is thinking at the moment, and so it's important that we consider the wider context. It goes without saying that I'd be really disappointed to lose him, especially at this point of the season. But I'm confident that Conte can get him back onside until the end of the season, just like he did in the Summer when a move back to Madrid looked to be on the cards.

What's wrong with that - It worked didn't it? Nothing annoys we more than this type of sanctimonious rubbish, and we've heard more than enough of it over the years from Wenger and Guardiola too since he came to England.

We've struggled to sell out Stamford Bridge for cup games and Champions League qualifiers, so talk of anything greater than 60k seems pretty unrealistic to me. I reckon we'll sell out every League game at the new ground but there will be empty seats for the other competitions, unless we are playing a big rival/club.

That's a fair point. It's getting harder and harder to get a decent pre-match pint before home games, all the pubs/bars on or near to the Broadway have all had rubbish makeovers and even some of those by West Brompton have shut now. Unfortunately the whole area around Wembley stadium is a dump and whilst the ground offers very good facilities it's not conducive to a good atmosphere either.

Fair point mate. I actually go to a handful of aways and in fairness do always appreciate being in the corner of an end, be it upper or lower. It just rankles me that the away fans get up to half the Shed when this is the stand that has been synonymous with our fans or decades. In the new ground they will definitely be in an end, just remains to be seen which one and why. I would have thought the Shed as this is easier to get in and out of.

I hope we put them high in the new West or East stand as that way they would have the least possible influence on the game. However, given that these would be the most expensive seats its very unlikely to happen and so hopefully they are in the West or East Lower. It irritates me that they have a corner of the Shed, all thanks to José Mourinho as well. Is anyone else concerned about what 3 years at a half-full Wembley will do to us? It's been shown that the big pitch doesn't do any favours for teams that play there and for the fans the area is rubbish as well.

Should have buried his chance but he had a good game overall. In the heart of virtually all our promising attacks and made a very nice assist for Batshuayi. A loan would be the best for him though as he sorely needs minutes. But unless we bring in an AM then I don't think we can take any chances given how we don't have a huge amount of depth at in these positions.

Definitely going if it's one of those. Brighton, Nottingham Forest, Newcastle, Brentford or AFC Wimbledon (all away) have potential too.

I like the look of Batshuayi a lot as a striker. Explosive on his day. But unfortunately he just doesn't look ready to me at the moment. He didn't look sharp today and he's not going to get match sharpness by sitting on the bench. Therefore, I'm not convinced he'd be ready to step in if Costa was to get injured at the moment. To be totally honest I would action the 6 month loan swap with Swansea for Llorente.

Good move. Always liked the look of Aké, even from the limited appearances he made for us under Benitez. I remember we had to beat Everton on the last day of the season to ensure CL qualification and he did a solid job in DM. I think he'll primarily come in as cover across CB, DM and maybe even LWB. Conte more or less stated that this would be the case after the game today. We clearly needed more depth at LWB and in midfield as well, and I'd rather we use the potential of Aké in this multi-functional role rather than paying inflated January transfer fees for average squad fillers. It would probably have been best for Aké, though, to stay at Bournemouth, but given how great a chance we have of winning the League it makes sense to bring him back.

Fair point actually. Yaya's powers are in decline and Delph has only recently returned from injury as well. That said the defence is much weaker.

In other news, Roberto Firmino's home has been burgled. Why am I not surprised?

Rakitic is undoubtedly class but how many midfielders do City need? Should be looking for fullbacks and a centre half.

Anyone have a stream in English that works?

What Guardiola needs to do is to pick an XI and within a specific formation and stick with it. Apparently City have made the most changes to their starting XI week on week of all clubs in the League, and clearly the constant upheaval is to their detriment. It can't be easy for players like John Stones and Claudio Bravo, both still learning their trade in the Premier League, to develop any cohesion with their teammates when the manager is constantly switching from a Back 4 to a Back 3. They still have time to get it right and mount a serious challenge but if we win tomorrow that's 7 points, so Guardiola needs to get it right soon and stop tinkering. As a reference, guess which club has made the least changes to its starting XI so far this season? Chelsea.

That would be something to behold. We can all dream I suppose.

AFC Wimbledon, they are the nearest team to me currently and I remember growing up we had some memorable games against them like the FA Cup Semi Final in 1997. I also remember one of the first games I ever saw at the Bridge against them when a dodgy backpass by Frank Sinclair/Eddie Newton played in Carl Cort I think to score. It would also be an incredible story in the history of Football if they could rise from the ashes all the way back to the Premier League.

AFC Wimbledon, they are the nearest team to me currently and I remember growing up we had some memorable games against them like the FA Cup Semi Final in 1997. I also remember one of the first games I ever saw at the Bridge against them when a dodgy backpass by Frank Sinclair/Eddie Newton played in Carl Cort I think to score. It would also be an incredible story in the history of Football if they could rise from the ashes all the way back to the Premier League.

Exactly. If I was a City fan I'd feel the same. I can see Karius and Bravo helping us more and more in the title race as the season goes on.

I've seen video footage of him blanking Azpilicueta and Willian as well. Wouldn't be surprised if there were others. For someone who likes to project an angelic image Guardiola is a bit of a pr*ck. At least, Mourinho & co. don't really try to hide their nasty tendencies.