for a start, not just one player - and not someone from european league as can take too long to bed-in, and MUST provide immediate cover for areas we are stretched in - so;

1. a centre-back with plenty PL experience - I'd go roger Johnson from Birmingham for about £6m

2. a centre-forward who can hold the ball up, and good in the year and scoring record - Santa Cruz for about £8m

3. a winger who can have an impact..........not sure about this one so maybe nzogbia - not sure about price

we absolutely do need to strengthen

Those players are not Chelsea standard. The worst of the injury crisis is over. By Jan 1st we will have alex, yuri and yossi close to retun or back by then. There is no need to panic and waste money on players that we will ship out for pennies in the summer.

in a few weeks Alex or Ivanovic will be sitting on the bench trying to break in to the team. So unless they fancy conversation on the bench from Johnson hes not needed.

Santa cruz would be our 3rd choice striker at best. We play 1 up front, he would struggle to get a place on the bench having not played for so long. Kalou and Sturridge are probably in better shape and sharper. None of our strikers even have any injury concerns. Not to mention hes no spring chicken, what age is he?

N'Zobgia is a left winger and is not better than Malouda or Zhirkov. So again we're talking about buying a 3rd choice player just for the sake of pleasing the panic merchants.

Relax

for a start, not just one player - and not someone from european league as can take too long to bed-in, and MUST provide immediate cover for areas we are stretched in - so;

we absolutely do need to strengthen

I absolutely agree, ws6blue.

1. a centre-back with plenty PL experience - I'd go roger Johnson from Birmingham for about £6m

Jonathan Woodgate

2. a centre-forward who can hold the ball up, and good in the year and scoring record - Santa Cruz for about £8m

Emile Heskey

3. a winger who can have an impact..........not sure about this one so maybe nzogbia - not sure about price

Wayne Routledge

Each of these players is English and will defos help us win the CL this year, right fellas?

Just checked some stats, 29 year old Santa cruz had a great season 2007–08 scoring 23 goals in all comps

In the two and a half years since, he has accumulated a whopping 10 goals (none this season). Sell Drogba, Sell Anelka, Buy Santa Cruz.

I was just thinking how we need more players turning 30 at Chelsea too

It actually gets better looking at his stats during his time in Germany

Played 188 Scored 38

Roman, get the cheque book ready!

Being serious for a moment, there is no way we should be buying any of the players you mention. I think we are good enough to still take 4th, and guarantee CL play next season with the squad we are currently playing with (as in, the team at this exact moment in time) and certainly good enough to make a challenge for the title should we get back to full strength.

Therefore, i see us spending on players such as those mentioned as being totally cringeworthy.

I'd rather us put faith in the players we have, rather than spending on has-beens just to hope they come good. What kind of image does that send out to our current squad, and other semi-retirees in Europe?

Will be interesting to see who we do go for. Hamsik, Hazard, Lukaku? Couldn't they all come in during January, and be eligible to play in the CL?

Yossi could be out as late as April and he was meant to be backup for a season or two, so that doesn't look like the best piece of business in hindsight. So we don't have any backup in attacking midfield, with Carlo still reluctant to trust Josh. I'll just throw one name in there, Charlie Adam. Certainly good enough to be a back up.

On the home page when i saw this thread i knew who had started it before i even opened it. Those players are not what we need to strengthen the squad with the sole exception of possibly nzogbia, however he is way too important for wigan to let him go without seriously overpricing him. Maybe with lamps back into the side we will get our rhythm back a bit more and stop some of the kneejerking

If we are going to buy in Jan then I think tfe only position we will look at is centre back. A player who would ultimatley be 4th choice, but would get a good few games - I'd actually agree that Johnson would be a good choice. As would Taylor at Newcastle who I think we could get for peanuts.

It mystifies me how people can say a player is not good enough for us - what's the critieria exactly ? What do they need to gave done ? Is there a certain size club they have to play for , for them to be an acceptable nomination?

It mystifies me how people can say a player is not good enough for us - what's the critieria exactly ? What do they need to gave done ? Is there a certain size club they have to play for , for them to be an acceptable nomination?

For me its pretty simple, they have to be better than what we currently have available. And I dont think any of the players ws6blue mentioned are. Taylor from Newcastle is one I agree with, a move and a return to form would see £2mill being a bargain.

I personally don't think we need to sign anyone. At the moment, even allowing for injuries and suspensions, we have decent players still not getting a game so why bring in more?

Sooner rather than later though we will need another striker. We all know Anelka & Drogba are edging towards the twighlight of their careers. That's where I would invest the £20M. NOT to sign a new striker. I would spend the £20M on Kalou having an operation to put his feet back on the right way round.

For me its pretty simple, they have to be better than what we currently have available. And I dont think any of the players ws6blue mentioned are. Taylor from Newcastle is one I agree with, a move and a return to form would see £2mill being a bargain.

seeing as Bruma clearly isn't going to get any games, that means Paulo is our 4th CB, so I'd definitley say Johnson is a better option

For me its pretty simple, they have to be better than what we currently have available. And I dont think any of the players ws6blue mentioned are. Taylor from Newcastle is one I agree with, a move and a return to form would see £2mill being a bargain.

Difficult to judge IMO, say for example place Terry in Everton's team and he may not look as impressive, in the same way place Jagielka in our back 4 and he may be made out into a superstar.

I wasn't overly excited wen we signed Lampard as I thought he was not to Chelsea standard. Its impossible to use this phrase to judge players IMO.

We have talk of signing players in January ‘cos the squad looks thin and needs strengthening? Fair enough but do we view these possible signings as long term / 1st 11 material or are they merely stop-gaps to cover injuries and/or until some of the youngsters are more ready?

Let’s be realistic, we are not going to get a Jagielka who gets to play every week at Everton if he then has to fight for a place when JT, Alex & Ivan are all fit. Ditto Johnson at Brum and many others in other positions.

And so what of the youth? This is where I sometime wish we didn’t have a billionaire benefactor. Clubs not as fortunate as ourselves would have to throw in the likes of Kakuta, Bruma and McEachran rather than go out and buy readymade replacements. I read in the Kakuta thread that he, Bruma and PVA might all be sent out on loan? That is fair enough but NOT if we then go and bring in more players. How is that a strategy for the long term of CFC? Gives a really bad message for any young players at the club, especially with the FA cup approaching and a 3rd round tie with Ipswich which is another ideal opportunity to play some of these lads.

As I see it the only real injuries we have in January is Alex and Benayoun who we’ve seen next to nothing of anyway. I hope we sign no-one and just knuckle down and get on with it.