CacOBG

Ramires can only be a sub if we take both Hulk and Hazard (or two of similar quality) to occupy both wings. In this case Ramires will have to share duties with Lamps in the middle of the park and who plays would be down to the manager and the game.

Dude, wtf? I've not downplayed the German league or at least didn't intend to - not sure if it sounds like this. Werder is a mediocre team in Germany - we are not talking about Goetze here who is winning it for the Champions. We are talking about Marin who gets 2-3 goals a season and 10 assists in a league that is not as good as the Premier League defensively (again, the League is not bad, it is just that team prefer to attack rather than defend there). Hulk is dominating a league at a lower level than Germany, but has proven skills in competitions like Europa League and Champions League. Marin is playing at a mediocre level at a mediocre team in Germany and nowhere else - that doesn't inspire confidence. Nor does his price tag - if he was so good would they let him leave for so little and wouldn't anyone else be interested in him, too? No. For the record, I watch multiple leagues, not just the Premier League like most people here including English, German, Italian, Dutch, Russian, Spanish, Bulgarian, CL, EL and just the big games in Portugal and Scotland. Please don't lecture me on League quality as I have a good idea what each one's worth is. It just happens that I couldn't care less about Werder last 2-3 seasons and have seen next to nothing from Marin in actual games so can only comment on video clips and information on the internet.

Hahahha Chelski offensive? wow. My home team Levski is referred as "cattle" by everyone in the country. And our arch rivals CSKA are referred as "pigs". Compare that to Chelski and tell me how I can possibly be offended by it :)

Not sure if serious? If yes...why? He is not too injury-prone and I have seen world class CBs like him play at top level at 36-37. Seriously, why?

Of course he wants to leave, he has said it publicly. Porto will not keep him against his will and will drop the price to a reasonable but still quite high price. The good thing is Abramovic is not Wenger and will actually sign him most likely.

So you actually think if Branko plays 30 games a season he is going to leave? Just like the seasons up to now? wow. Phase out Terry? Are you nuts? He is 31. He has at least 3 (possibly 4 for a CB) more years at top level football. Please, go on and tell him he is being phased out this season. And how do you know Luiz is not going to be good at RB, he hasn't played there for us yet and he clearly has the skills - defensive talent, good going forward, good tecchnique, not sure on how good his crossing is. You are just making comments like they are facts when they actually aren't. I am not saying Branko is bad, he is one of my favorite players at Chelsea as he comes more or less where I come from but that doesn't make the option of Luiz playing on the right impossible. It will depend on the next manager, not on you and me and I have the right to an opinion.

I see he's scored again? Who were the two people insisting he is not worth the money hahahahah. Come again.

My reasoning is that Luiz has the skills necessary for a RB and is younger than Branko, so he could be developed into a great RB for the next 7-8 seasons. I have no issue with rotation on RB just like Jose and Branko were last season + both Branko and Luiz can play as CB if Cahill/Terry is out. That is plenty of playing time for all four of them and we are developing a new player for the future at RB. Is it really that hard to understand what I mean?

Seriously guys, have you not seen him play before - like Champions League or Europa League at least... :D He scores screamers every other week. I will wait for the ESPN repeat later on, at least there's good stuff to look forward to.

My thinking, the problem is we don't have a manager right now to decide on that and tell it to Hazard :)

But we don't have good back-up plan if Ivanovic is injured/suspended for a big game (Ferreira's time is long gone). I think Luiz needs to get some playing time out right if we want to have two good RBs with Bosingwa gone now. Otherwise we have to spend money on yet another player (someone suggested Van der Wiel and use him as a sub...). And I wouldn't use the term "benched"as he would be sub No. 1 for RB and 2 CBs, which for 60 games a season is a lot of playing time!

J.J Yes, I was wrong on Marin as established in another thread. He seems to feel better on the wing (and he should really as his skill set is good for the wing - pace, technique and running one v one). De Bruyne will be a sensational midfielder very soon - especially in a central roledue to his vision, passing and shooting. But dont' forget he is an excellent crosser so he can easily play out wide with good pace and not so bad technique. More or less agree on the rest, except that I like Hulk for us. Not so keen on Hazard after all the rubbish that came from him and his agent in the past few months, but we can't rely solely on Marin I think for the left wing so if Hazard doesn't come then maybe Ramires can continue to play there if we can't find anyone else affordable and suitable (not ideal, I know) - I'd love Lavezzi there but he is darn expensive - something like 40m. On Luiz - he was insane as CB when he first came to us - look at him now. I am sure if he is at RB he can be "taight" to be sensible there, too. Don't get me wrong, I love Branko's style but I can't see any of Cahill, Luiz and Terry being subs and rotating Centre Backs is never a good idea in football.

Why?

He can play any attacking midfielder role, but from his interviews it sounds like he wants to be No 10 behind the striker as he feels best there (he used to be mainly a winger but played behind the striker last season and obviously enjoyed that).

Haven't we dreamed of that for ages? :D Ramirez, McEachren and De Bruyne can all play deeper role where Frankie is this season and I have a feeling one of the last two will be on loan somewhere (almost sure about Josh, but I can see De Bruyne being sent to a lesser team to gain first team experience in the Premier League - he will be in the starting 11 in any team in the bottom half, he is that freaking good).

United sometimes play 4-5-1 with Rooney in front. Hazard can easily play behind him. He will have the freedom just like Silva behind Aguero at sh*tty and Mata behind Torres at Chelsea. United's other formation is 4-4-2 with two typical wings - he can play in that formation too as he is a good winger. He certainly has a place at Utd, so that's where I think he'll go. I don't think we can promise him a place behind the main striker that he wants with Mata present. Hazard is Left Winger/ AMC. Hulk is an RW - they have nothing to do with each other. And no one is suggesting we will activate Hulk's clause. If we buy him, it would be for half the clause most likely 30-37m pounds. Both Hazard and Hulk have a place in our squad, but on the wings and I don't think Hazard wants to play there and so does Mata so that is a problem.

Regarding Marin, you'd probably want to do some more research. From what I've gathered (I have not seen enough of his games to conclude on anything myself), he used to be good on the wings only 3-4 years ago when Ozil was there. Here is quite a nice article on the topic: http://bleacherrepor...emodeling-marko I've read the same feedback from fans saying in his recent seasons he is far more effective in the AMC position rather than the wing. Remember Mata started as a winger in Valencia, playing left of Silva and look at him now - every time I see him on the wing, it seems like a waster of talent. From what I gather Marin is more or less the same type of player. Btw, from the several videos/full games I've seen in the past two season, I have seen him drift out wide even when he is playing AMC normally. I am still not too excited though, I don't think he is good enough for the top level of Premier League and his stats more or less confirm that - a goal every 10 games and an assist every three games in the weaker defensively German league does not impress anyone. Actually, I take it back it seems he really is struggling in AMC role especially this season - http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1165272-marko-marin-5-things-to-know-about-chelseas-new-signing#/articles/1165272-marko-marin-5-things-to-know-about-chelseas-new-signing/page/3 .

Regarding FFP...now is pretty much the last time we can actually spend more than normally without worrying about it and I am sure RA knows that and won't hold back. The only thing we need to worry about is reducing the wage bill as that will have direct effect on our finance for when it matters so certain players had/have to go (Kalou, Bosingwa, Drogba...expecting Malouda and probably one more if we buy a left winger besides Hulk, most likely Essien if we find a buyer as his wages are high).

Honestly, I don't see the need for either of them. We have 3 central midfield position where we currently have Mikel (DM), Meireles (DM/CM), Ramires (CM), Romeu (DM), Josh (CM), Lampard (CM/AMC), Mata (AMC), Marin (AMC) and KdB (MC/AMC) all capable of playing on one of the three positions. Why spend 30 million on players that wouldn't bring much to the club when we are in desperate need for top quality actual wingers (Marin and KdB are both better suited for more central roles) for ages (since Robben left pretty much).

From what I've read/heard Marin is not good on the wing just like Mata, great at AMC, but mediocre on the wing. I know Hazard is still an option although I expect him to go to UTD as he wants to play AMC, too. Kevin is more of a Lampard type but is quite good on the wing but he is what, 19? The only way I can see him playing in the first 11 is if Pep is our manager next season as he loves playing kiddos on the wings. I can't see it happening with RDM for example although I really wish he is given first chance opportunity, he seems insanely good in passing, crossing and shooting with power. Time will tell. That Boy Brandinho - yes, using memes as argument really does make you look smarter. congrats.

That's what I am hoping for. They were fantastic with Falcao and I don't think Falcao is any different than Torres - both are quick, relatively good in the air and with good vision and technique. Couple them with a playmaker like Mata and we have a winner. Also he can finish well so any crosses from the left wing (whoever plays there), can be met by more than just Fernando.

I am pretty sure I read that Dortmund pretty much laughed at that 13m bid. I think they want something like 20m for him, which is a fair price. But we have Marin and Mata in that position...

RW, just off the front man - exactly what we need IMO. They tried that with Torres off Drogba but that is not his natural position and it showed although he did better there than up front IMO. Agree on Sturridge but he had a whole season to learn to stop being the selfish **** he is and near the end of the season I did not see anything change, same old stuff from him. I don't think I can go through another season of that attitude towards a team sport.

I can read and comprehend what people try to say quite well, thanks for the advice. You were pretty clear he is not worth 35m and based that on nothing. And you clearly don't understand market dynamics if you don't understand that a player can only be sold for what another values him at - if we value him at 35m and are prapered to pay it, then that's how much he's worth. It has nothing to do with any sort of leverage. From what I understand, they'd be happy for him to stay and would sell him at a price that they think is right for him - how is that different from any other transfer except the ones where players don't want to renew their contracts near the end? Or are you saying that in 80% of transfers the seller has leverage, wow? Whether I am new here or not has nothing to do with the argument. If you can't support your claims properly don't make them.

He played more at Inter and at Besiktas and proved he is far from the top. Even if he had stayed at Chelsea and actually played, I believe he still would have been a flop. I've never liked him - he had a few games at Porto but nothing so special and he is the selfish type like Robinho and Sturridge, I hate players like them with passion. Hulk is a completely different player with the only similarity I see the playing position RW.