Celery1989

Rajkovic set for Hamburg in £2Million according to Evening Standard: Right at the bottom: http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23979994-chelsea-reach-agreement-with-valencia-for-juan-mata.do

Finally someone who seems to agree with me. At least the Juan Mata and Modric rumours seem to be picking up...

Saw Betrand play for the England U21's over the Summer and he looked like he could be great IMO. A loan would probably be best for him personally but who do we have to backup Ashley other than PVA, who himself has hardly played?

says a lot when you can't compete with Paris St. Germain in the market ffs

Eugh right old news then really.

http://www.chelseafc.com/page/LatestNews/0,,10268~2404971,00.html "CHELSEA TV HEADLINES: POTENTIAL NEW SIGNING Posted on: Fri 29 Jul 2011 There are typhoon warnings in Hong Kong as the Blues continue the pre-season tour and Chelsea TV has the latest. You can hear all the news from today's press conference, including a possible new signing, in the 1pm headlines. There will be more from Hong Kong in Blues News at 6.30pm on Sky channel 421 and also on CTV Online." FYI.

Good point. Emirates Cup.

Links? I can only find the ones I mentioned above.

Unfortunately I think it may be too late for Essien. 2 ACL tears and another significant knee injury really don't bode well for him.

Yes we're lucky to be where we are but we are one of the elite now. On that relative level, our team/squad doesn't match up to Barca, Real, United and maybe even City if I'm honest. All I'm asking for is a winger, creative mid - right back potentially but am happy with Ivanovic. I think we will get these players in time but I have a feeling it won't be until late August, whilst United's and City's signing will all have had time to gel in by then. You can't possibly tell me we don't need either of those types of players? There was zero creativity in our midfield at times last year, and its about time we catually started playing winger out wide rather than putting Anelka/Kalou who are strikers and don't naturally fit those positions.

Conflicting reports emanating on this one. Talksport claim that PSG have 'pipped' us to his signing, whilst the Metro are saying that his agent is in London today to discuss the details of a £44 million transfer. Hmmm.

Yes but the point is that Drogba etc are all a year older, and they weren't exactly awe inspiring at any points last year. Not saying sell Drogba and Lampard by any means but you cannot possibly count on both of them getting 20 goals this year as one might have done in years past. It's exactly for this reason that I feel so perplexed about us just sitting back and watching the transfer market unfold. Are we really gonna let Juan Mata go to Arsenal? He's exactly what we need and for 18 million that is naff all in the current market. Jordan Henderson for 20 Million, or a world cup winner with David Silva-esque ability for 18 million?

I really don't understand what all the Mikel fans see. JOM hasn't improve one iota since he joined the club. The only positive development I've seen in his game is that he's cut out the silly red cards he used to get, but that's about it. For a holding midfielder, he can't tackle very well nor does he have enough positional discipline to shield the defense consistenly nor anchor the midfield. "lapses of concetration" sums it up qutie well. Also, to those harping on about his supposedly amazing passing, only once last year did he play a great ball, and that was to Anelka when he scored in our 6-0 rout of Wigan. Aside from Ferreira, the worst player in our squad for sure. Shame because I can see that there is potential there, but it hasn't come to fruition over the last 4/5 years. Same goes for Kalou.

I quite like the look of that team: I'd Sturridge to have a chance, just replace Yossi with Modric or Pastore and I'm happy. Then rotate Rambo, Mikel, Lampard and that new lad Romeu in the 2 other midfield positions, let Yossi and the new creator fight out for that role. Loan out McEachran, ship him off to Bolton where he can bulk up for a year with Kevin Davies and then come back next year to hit the ground runninng a la Wilshere ;) . Can you honestly see Essien being a part of our future though? He's blown his Cruciate ligament twice, had another bad knee injury the year before last...last season seemed to me as though he'd lost all the bite from his game which made him the player he was. Surely there's no tenacity left after this latest injury and it's generally very rare for a player to recover fully from 1 ACL tear let alone 2.

Ah so we do agree lol. Yeah granted Benayoun is creative but again he's 31, Lampard is 32, there's no future upside with these players. Someone like Modric/Pastore could, and I use the word very loosely, potentially become the next Iniesta or Xavi etc. They're young enough and talented enough for sure. I suppose the same could be said for Josh but we just don't know with him right now, we've barely seen anytihng from him - granted the little I have seen looks good but he's not physically ready to step in and be the creative force. I'd love for him to prove me wrong. Juan Mata would be good out wide. Silva would have been a dream...*sigh* I agree with your view on Ancelotti completely too, far too rigid.

Where could we move to? Battersea has been mooted in the past which I suppose would be ok, Earl's Court would be fine but the Exhibition Centre will apparently be transformed into appartments after the Olympics. I've also heard White city mentioned - please no. It's a difficult one for sure because nothing can be done to Stamford Bridge - Tube line to the east, Fuham Road to the south, Brompton Cemetery to the north, and those relatively new house built to the west of the Bridge just by the Broadway shopping complex. The only option would be to knock it down and build upwards but I don't know how feasible this is in itself. Alsot I'm sure any new stadium that Abramovich would sanction would have to have all sorts of exclusive Hotels/Restaurants/Spa's etc too.

Sorry but I'm not gonna be happy to see Anelka and co. scrap away for another season, flopping out of the CL in the Quarters and then finishing 3rd at the very best. Unless we start bringing in fresh talent soon we simply won't be competitive in the future, its that simple. Notice how United's main players are all about 26/7 whereas ours are 31/2 ?

Firstly I'm not advocating a total overhaul. What I'm saying is that we need 3 in to begin the process of an overhaul which will take 2/3 transfer windows to complete. It should have begun last summer when we were on top - ever noticed how United attack the market when they are on top? It's no surprise that they win the league about twice every 3 years. I don't understand how you feel so positive about our team. How can you not see the problems we have?? We were so poor for so long last year - Watching Chelsea was so monotonous because of the lack of ingenuity and craft in the team - once wide the ball would come in-field and we'd go round in circles.

I'm interested to see what this guy can do, if given the chance. Serbia have produced a number of fine defenders over the last few years - Vidic, Ivanovic, Subotic, Savic - and that certainly bodes well for this guy. Also, given that he's been at the club for about 3/4 years now (?), he must be thought of highly. If he can get a WP, would be cool to see what he can do in the Carling Cup, because he of course has 4 players ahead of him in the CB pecking order.

Who else is fed up of our overly passive attitude towards the transfer market? Pre-Season has almost finished and has been a microcosm of last season: on show has been a Chelsea team largely devoid of ideas, which takes at least 1 half to get going, and which lacks pace, creativity and energy. Sound familiar? I simply do not understand Ron Gourlay's and AVB's perception of our team/squad. Are they REALLY that satisfied with this squad when it's been excruciatingly obvious for the best part of 8/9 months that we are sorely deficient in certain areas? We are in desperate need of a young, pacy winger, a midfielder who can actually play a through-ball, and a natural right-back. What is taking them so long to make the signings which everyone can see that we need? Because of these problems, I'd say that right now we are far behind Man United and also inferior to Man City in terms of depth and talent. As far ast the CL goes, we don't have a prayer in hell with the current squad. If we sign the type of players I've suggested (Hazard/Mata, Pastore/Modric, Van der Wiel), and they turn out to be good enough, then maybe we'll have a chance. But can you honestly see this outfit beating Barca? no chance. I'm just fed up in general of the failure of our transfer policy in general over the last 3/4 years. Many of the problems we have now were in their infancy at the end of Jose's time. Last season, once we'd won the double, we should have attacked the transfer market, and thoroughly begun the rebuilding of this squad. Ever wondered why Man United win the league every other year at least? Instead, we've left it a year (maybe 2 years) too late, allowing quality players like David Silva, who incidentally stated that his preference was Chelsea, be pinched from right under our noses. Funny how desperate we are for a player like him now? Just watch the same thing happen to Juan Mata. There better be some fireworks coming in August. Because right now I don't think I've ever felt as despondent going into a new season. Just my opinion.

Is anyone else genuinely feeling a little despondent about the upcoming season? Preseason has promised nothing and has been a microcosm of last season - we still have all the same problems we had then in that we start games so slowly, we lack energy, have no creativity, and virtually no pace either. I cannot understand why we are being so passive in the transfer market when its excruciatingly obvious what our team sorely lacks. And much of this extends from our laid-back attitude last year in the transfer market, when we let Man City take David Silva, who himself stated that he wanted to come to Chelsea and funnily enough is precisely the kind of player we need right now. We should have begun rebuidling this team properly last summer - I like him but signing Ramires and shipping out 5 isn't what I mean - and had we done so we'd never have had to, let's face it, seemingly waste 50 million on Torres. AVB needs to wake up and realise that this team, right now, doesn't have a prayer in hell of winning the CL, which after all is the main prize that the owner craves. I don't see why he's giving it all this b0ll0x about wanting to evaluate the players over pre-season when, given how meticulous he is in his preparations in general, he must surely already be acutely aware of the deficiencies of this team. I genuinely appreciate how he seems to be trying to forge the same level of team spirit that we had under Jose, but surely he can't be serious when he says things like "the group dynamic will help the players perform to their peak" etc. A lot of these players are over the hill (Anelka, Drogba) and others have reached the ceiling (Mikel, Kalou). For us to be able to win the CL, or even the PL - I'd say we're quite far behind Man United and City right now - we need to bring in a winger, a creative mid, and a right-back - which were positions that needed to be filled after we won the double. A haul of Mata, Pastore/Modric and Van Der Wiel would be sufficient, but seems like a pipe-dream right now. What the **** are AVB and Gourlay waiting for? Please can someone tell me? Is it not blindingly obvious that this team needs an imminent infusion of youth, creativity and pace??

Why are we not interested in this guy? He is EXACTLY the type of player we need. Has craft, pace, skill, a killer ball, and is YOUNG - everything that we need more of to get the best out of Torres. WAKE UP GOURLAY

What were the boys singing at Sunderland? I caught a brief bit of it on MOTD and it sounded like the "NANANA" one that the Scouse had for him, couldn't really make out any of the words though.

Alright guys, just wondering who here has been to St. Andrews before and whether you would recommend getting off the train at New Street and walking the half hour? Or is it better to go to Moor Street and change onto the train to Bordesley and then get off there? Thanks a lot for any help.

Sad to see him go like everyone else here it seems, Ray is blue through and through. I hope this is because Ray's been offered a managerial position elsewhere, but I have a feeling, unfortunately, that there is something more sinister to this. Just a pure speculative hunch though.