Socrates

Confirmed on Skysport that Barcelona have made an official bid for Luiz but the bid has been rejected.

Article here: Real Madrid now seems to have an abundance of central midfielders in its squad. Casemiro, Isco and Illarramendi, along with Modric, Khedira and Xabi Alonso – who is recovering a lot sooner than expected – are the players that are sure to give Ancelotti a headache when it comes to picking his team. The player who seems to be most threatened by the midfield overcrowding is Khedira. The German, who was a regular under Mourinho alongside Xabi, seems to be out of favour with the Italian manager. Ancelotti is yet to slot him into his desired formation, which is designed for players who are talented as opposed to physical. In the light of the German's situation, Mourinho called him to see if he would like to play for Chelsea. The Portuguese wants him to lead his midfield and has promised to make him an important player for the London club. Khedira is uncertain about his future at Real, as he fears he could end up watching what is to be an important season for him from the bench. Next summer will see Germany go into the 2014 World Cup in Brazil as one of the favourites to win, and the midfielder wants to form part of Joachim Löw's team to help the cause. The Real number 6 needs to play as much football as possible and is unsure whether that will happen with 'Los Blancos'. So far this pre-season, Ancelotti has opted to go with Casemiro, as was the case in the game against Olympique Lyonnais after injury to Illarramendi. Real has denied that an approach from Chelsea has been made, but the club does not rule out selling the German if a substantial bid does come in. http://www.marca.com/2013/08/02/en/football/real_madrid/1375424029.html

Posting in the 'random rumours' thread because there isn’t a 'too good to be true' thread... Exclusive: Liverpool Prepare Move to Bring Chelsea Striker Fernando Torres Back to Anfield

Bit worrying that De Bruyne seemed to know straight away something was wrong. Strange that it was his ankle which seemed to give way but his knee was the problem. Hope it's not as bad as it looked. Entertaining game though.

Apparently we're fine in midfield. Jose Mourinho on bid for De Rossi—"No, we're fine for midfield players. Experience: Essien/Lamps. Mid-age: Mikel/Ramires. Very young: MvG. We're there" And here I was hoping for De Rossi and Gustavo!

From what I've read Rooney's on a basic salary of 160,000 plus bonuses.

Well if United are determined to keep Rooney then David Moyes' latest comments on the pecking order at United won’t have helped: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/wayne-rooney-transfer-manchester-united-2053610?

Spotted in this Guardian article a brief mention that ‘a deal understood to be close for Fiorentina's Steven Jovetic at around £25m.’ http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2013/jun/11/jose-mourinho-chelsea-former-charges?INTCMP=SRCH

Torres to Barcelona? The story is from Catalan daily Sport: http://www.101greatgoals.com/blog/barcelona-are-set-to-bid-e20m-for-chelseas-fernando-torres-in-the-next-few-days-sport/? I want to believe it. I really do.

Interesting report on last night's Belgium vs Serbia game. Watched by Mourinho, DeBruyne described as ‘the game's standout player’ and featured along with several other CFC players and potential targets: http://www.weaintgotnohistory.com/2013/6/7/4407224/belgium-vs-serbia-2013-final-score-chelsea?

I wondered about this till I realised that he’s quick, has good control and is a good finisher. I reckon the thinking is he'll give us more options and guile upfront – especially if we can get a top class centre forward to play alongside him.

Guess it was just too good to be true... “Chelsea striker’s wages stop link up with Benitez at Napoli†http://www.fanatix.com/news/chelsea-strikers-wages-stop-link-up-with-benitez-at-napoli/120809/

Strange that City don’t think Dzeko good enough to hold on to. For us, he’d be ahead of Torres and Ba. I guess it shows how low we've sunk in terms of quality upfront. On Cavani, if we get him ahead of City it’d be a major coup. Losing him to City on the other hand then Dzeko would be a good option I reckon. Would they sell to us though?

So it's between us and City then. If I were Napoli I'd take Dzeko over Torres in any proposed swap. Even if Benitez is manager of Napoli, he'd have seen Torres close-up the last few months and won't be fooled. Unless Cavani really really wants to play under Jose I think it's going to be tough to get him.

Benitez strikes again. You'd think he'd learn to leave well alone if we're 3-0 up and cruising. Any chance Benitez takes both Torres and Benayoun with him? And who thought signing Marin was a good idea? Come back Jose and please sort out our midfield. Mikel and Luiz prancing about is doing my head in.