What I would love to know is, have we as a club still got the money to dine at the 'top table' any more. City have a nation funding them, which we can't compete with. Liverpool and United have far more income than us. Even Spurs and Arsenal have their extra stadium income to rely on.

Does Roman still have deep enough pockets to dig us out of this hole?

On 30/04/2019 at 06:03, Old Shaggy said:

What I would love to know is, have we as a club still got the money to dine at the 'top table' any more. City have a nation funding them, which we can't compete with. Liverpool and United have far more income than us. Even Spurs and Arsenal have their extra stadium income to rely on.

Does Roman still have deep enough pockets to dig us out of this hole?

As well as the UK clubs, you'd also have to throw the top sides in Europe into the mix when it comes to competing financially for the top talent ... more than ever you need a top scouting operation, plus key relationships with the agent filth, to go with your positive club image, ability to win trophies, and participation in Champions League etc etc  ?

We are still the most attractive London based team to move to so that's an advantage. 

Sane would be a great addition if he was looking to move.

15 hours ago, Malcolm9 said:

We are still the most attractive London based team to move to so that's an advantage. 

Sane would be a great addition if he was looking to move.

He has certainly got some good strengths though not sure he would be a good fit for us. 

Apparently we had scouts at the Porto game. Hopefully to watch Alex Telles

2 hours ago, rtwelch said:

Apparently we had scouts at the Porto game. Hopefully to watch Alex Telles

Quality crossed and set piece taker. 

Digne is also doing well at Everton. Best lb in the PL this year. 

I'd still like us to give Jay Dasilva a proper short before buying though.

Saw some rumours yesterday linking us with a big money move for Dybala. Huge pinch of salt with this one i think.

1 hour ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Saw some rumours yesterday linking us with a big money move for Dybala. Huge pinch of salt with this one i think.

I've seen United are linked with him for £85m. 

I would take him as a striker. It's not been a great year for him, I dont think he compliments Ronaldo that well, and he's found himself out wide. 

Much better through the middle, if jovic is Madrid bound, Dybala would be a great alternative, he's the better all round player out of the 2.

49 minutes ago, big blue said:

I've seen United are linked with him for £85m. 

I would take him as a striker. It's not been a great year for him, I dont think he compliments Ronaldo that well, and he's found himself out wide. 

Much better through the middle, if jovic is Madrid bound, Dybala would be a great alternative, he's the better all round player out of the 2.

Agreed, Dybala fits Sarri’s style of play much better than Jovic - though I was pleasantly surprised at Jovic’s ability as far as hold up and link up play in our match against them last week.

I personally think Dybala is slightly overrated. He has a few decent games here and there, but everything about him makes me think he would be another Serie A to Premier League failure. There is something about that league and the Premier League that just doesn't mix anymore. 

17 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I personally think Dybala is slightly overrated. He has a few decent games here and there, but everything about him makes me think he would be another Serie A to Premier League failure. There is something about that league and the Premier League that just doesn't mix anymore. 

Maybe there is difficulty coming from serie a to the premier league, but there have been some recent success stories as well, like salah, Felipe Anderson, Pereyra, Lemina, shaqiri, coutinho, Rudiger. Dybala has pace, technique, and although I wouldn't describe him as strong, he has enough physicality to succeed over here. 

I think the players that have struggled, have generally been the ones with no pace, and no aggression, and who are coming towards the end of their careers. Unfortunately I think Chelsea have generally just signed the wrong players from serie a.

17 hours ago, Scott Harris said:

I personally think Dybala is slightly overrated. He has a few decent games here and there, but everything about him makes me think he would be another Serie A to Premier League failure. There is something about that league and the Premier League that just doesn't mix anymore. 

Maybe there is difficulty coming from serie a to the premier league, but there have been some recent success stories as well, like salah, Felipe Anderson, Pereyra, Lemina, shaqiri, coutinho, Rudiger. Dybala has pace, technique, and although I wouldn't describe him as strong, he has enough physicality to succeed over here. 

I think the players that have struggled, have generally been the ones with no pace, and no aggression, and who are coming towards the end of their careers. Unfortunately I think Chelsea have generally just signed the wrong players from serie a.

Don't know who from Ajax would be gettable, or who would want to come to us at the moment, but Van De Beek looks like a quality player and could slot into midfield easily where Barkley/Kovaic are currently failing to live up to expectations.

15 hours ago, Zeta said:

Don't know who from Ajax would be gettable, or who would want to come to us at the moment, but Van De Beek looks like a quality player and could slot into midfield easily where Barkley/Kovaic are currently failing to live up to expectations.

Available for £45m too apparently.

Some rumours that we are lined up to sign Rabiot on a free. To be honest, his attitude stinks, but he's  such a good player. Would be willing to take the risk. 

Edited May 9, 20197 yr by MANoWAR

21 minutes ago, MANoWAR said:

Some rumours that we are lined up to sign Rabiot on a free. To be honest, his attitude stinks, but he's  such a good player. Would be willing to take the risk. 

I was under the impression he was Barca bound. 

The interest cooled down because wages and they signed De Jong

Edited May 9, 20197 yr by MANoWAR

Take Rabiot in a heartbeat. The problem is there is no place for him unless we want to sit Kante or RLC because we know Jorginho is going nowhere. I'd quite fancy a midfield with Kante playing behind Rabiot and RLC. 

Rabiot will end up at Utd sitting on about 350k a week iimo.

David Ornstein from BBC sport has said that if the transfer ban is avoided then names he's heard us interested in included Cavani, Zaha and Courtinho. 

He acknowledges that the ban is complex and that CAS might not rule on our appeal against the transfer ban until July, mid way through the transfer window. 

Great, the annual Zaha rumour!

2 hours ago, ForeverCarefree said:

David Ornstein from BBC sport has said that if the transfer ban is avoided then names he's heard us interested in included Cavani, Zaha and Courtinho. 

He acknowledges that the ban is complex and that CAS might not rule on our appeal against the transfer ban until July, mid way through the transfer window. 

Not a single name to get excited about. I know they're only rumours and big names are more likely to gather interest to the article but i'd much rather see us signing young players who aren't the finished article over players like this.

Pepe/Lozano > Zaha

Thorgan/Ziyech > Coutinho

Cutrone/Jovic/Isak > Cavani

Saves us god knows how much in wages and transfer fee and builds for the future.

2 minutes ago, RIP Mourinho said:

Not a single name to get excited about. I know they're only rumours and big names are more likely to gather interest to the article but i'd much rather see us signing young players who aren't the finished article over players like this.

Don't disagree with what you're saying at all but Ornstein is about as reliable as they get when it comes to transfers and that list of names he provided has a very Chelsea feel to it. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see two of those players signed if we're not banned. 

3 minutes ago, ForeverCarefree said:

Don't disagree with what you're saying at all but Ornstein is about as reliable as they get when it comes to transfers and that list of names he provided has a very Chelsea feel to it. 

I wouldn't be surprised to see two of those players signed if we're not banned. 

God that's depressing. Really does make you wonder how people within Chelsea get so high up when pretty much every single fan can agree there are so many better options available for the money. 

2 hours ago, Valerie said:

Great, the annual Zaha rumour!

I think I've started at least one of those!!