Closing in on a 8m deal apparently!

And please do not loan him straight back, so pointless when we need some creativity out there.

He clearly isn't ready for the Prem.

I started out liking the prospect of signing him then went off him when we played Genk. He couldn't even trouble Bosingwa but he did play some nice passes a few times. Obviously being signed as someone for the future if we do sign him.

Belgian league to Premiership is a big jump - I'd be surprised if he was ready to be a major contributor straight off the bat. If loaning him back can get us a discount on the price, or if we have plans to use that squad space for someone else, it's not an awful idea.

Could be worth a gamble tho, especially if we don't get hazard/willian.

I'm sorry but I just don't see it with this kid. The times I have seen him play, he hasn't shown anything that makes even 8 mil sound right. To me, Kakuta would have been a much better option if somebody were to come in and play right now.

He's not the type of person we need right now, he MAY be ok for the future, but we need somebody who's going to make an impact right now and from what I've seen of this lad it's not going to be him.

Am I imagining this or did AVB's Porto play Genk last season, leading to AVB coming out with a comment rating him? If AVB likes him then I'll trust the signing. From what little I've seen myself he doesn't seem to cut it.

I'll admit I haven't seen much of him either, but what I liked was his style. Intricate passes and good crosses seem to be what he's more about than necessarily beating a man with tricks or pace (although some highlight packages do seem to show him doing that). Which to me seems interesting as to whether he would compliment Mata.

To my mind, a player like Mata is at his best when other players around him play similar passes and have that ability to spot things themselves. For example when Mata makes a good run, who's going to find him? A massively over the top example would be Xavi playing for Stoke. No matter how good Xavi is, a lot of his passing revolves around quick passing and movement that others need to reciprocate, Mata is similar but to a lesser extent due to his other attributes like his pace and skill in beating a player.

A player who can compliment the style Mata brings would give us something different and add to Mata's and our effectiveness. Whether De Bruyne is ready to be a first choice for us is debatable at best, but I'd like to see him brought in over January, not least to give us an option to try something different from the bench when we are struggling to break down a side but also to add competition to the squad overall.

I may just be seeing something I want to see, rather than actually being there, but I would say that De Bruyne has a lot to offer us in the future and his value is hardly going to go down. He may not be the missing piece to the puzzle just yet, but I reckon he might just add enough to the squad to help us this season at least and hopefully more in the future.

Agree Eggy. Mata seems to be on another wavelength to the rest of the team at the moment. The amount of times he sets something up and people around him fail to realise what he's up to is getting frustrating.

Well I suppose this was always going to happen eventually. Let's hope he is better than he looked when he played us. Lets also hope that it doesn't stop us signing someone decent for the left side if Mata is going into the middle.

Chelsea should concentrate on getting talents with extreme abilities and for wingers that is usually great pace, just look at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Arsenal. Bruyne for me is not worth 8.5 mil, not even half.

Im tired of Chelsea spending all this money on youngsters that just gets loaned out until they dissapear, either buy players that has extreme abilities or talents like Romeu, Hazard etc that can break into the team.

Chelsea should concentrate on getting talents with extreme abilities and for wingers that is usually great pace, just look at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Arsenal. Bruyne for me is not worth 8.5 mil, not even half.

Im tired of Chelsea spending all this money on youngsters that just gets loaned out until they dissapear, either buy players that has extreme abilities or talents like Romeu, Hazard etc that can break into the team.

Had you heard of Romeu before we signed him? How much hype was there with him?

How much pace does Hazard have? Or even Mata? I guess because they lack 'great pace' they're not good enough?

I really don't get these arguments against him. I think he's a risk to the level that Kalou was a risk when we signed him. Both came from a lesser league and both are young and good prospects. The worst case scenario is that De Bruyne performs like Kalou. Adds depth to the squad, pops up with important goals and performances every so often and adds to what we have. I don't see how anyone can complain about that kind of signing. Yes, ideally we'd get someone really exciting as well, but not every signing has to be exciting to be a good one.

He's a bit like a right footed Mata isn't he? No great physical attributes, but excellent passer, and prefers to come inside. Ideally for our first team, I'd like someone who can work well with Mata, but also offers something a bit different (Willlian could be that player imo). However we do need backup for Mata and for 8m, its probably not a bad move. Just not the move I was hoping for right now.

I think he is in the level of Lukaku in terms of being ready to play in the Prem. In Belgium he knows all the opponents and players and atmosphere and although he has apparent skill loaning him back sounds sensible. If Malouda doesn't play, a seasoned pro, what chances do De Bruyne have. If we get rid of the old guard in the summer(Malouda, Drogba) Lukaku and De Bruyne could easily be backup players in the first team.

Chelsea should concentrate on getting talents with extreme abilities and for wingers that is usually great pace, just look at Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for Arsenal. Bruyne for me is not worth 8.5 mil, not even half.

Im tired of Chelsea spending all this money on youngsters that just gets loaned out until they dissapear, either buy players that has extreme abilities or talents like Romeu, Hazard etc that can break into the team.

Oxlade-Chamberlain cost 12m up front with up to another 3m in add-ons. He was in the Championship when he moved to Arsenal. He's only 18. Can you imagine if Arsenal didn't sign him and we were in for him right now at that cost? People would want to hang AVB. But he's had a couple of decent performances for Arsenal and now he's the type of person we need to be going after? Let's make sure he's the next Ronaldo and not the next Walcott before we decide to focus on guys like that.

chelsea set to sign Kevin De Bruyne for 8 million!! :D

I like the idea of signing him and loaning him straight back, I just wish we had done that with Lukaku.

I like the idea of signing him and loaning him straight back, I just wish we had done that with Lukaku.

I'm just thinking. We cannot loan Lukaku to other clubs, because he was already played for two clubs in this season. I can imagine that maybe loaning him back is not an option either. Just an idea, not sure about this.

I'm just thinking. We cannot loan Lukaku to other clubs, because he was already played for two clubs in this season. I can imagine that maybe loaning him back is not an option either. Just an idea, not sure about this.

So he can go back to Anderlecht on loan? I didn`t know that, I thought he was stuck with us no matter what. It would be a good option in that case.

So he can go back to Anderlecht on loan? I didn`t know that, I thought he was stuck with us no matter what. It would be a good option in that case.

Erm, i think you completely misunderstood what i wrote. Or i don't get your point . :D

You said loaning him back may not be an option, but since Anderlecht is one of the 2 clubs he's played for, it should be possible? Irrelevant though, as it looks certain he'll be staying with us.

You said loaning him back may not be an option, but since Anderlecht is one of the 2 clubs he's played for, it should be possible? Irrelevant though, as it looks certain he'll be staying with us.

Yes, that was my point, that maybe even loaning him back is not an option. :) But just an idea, i'm not sure about rules in this case.

Ah, you were talking about loaning De Bruyne back. I think it should be possible.

Players may be registered with a maximum of three clubs during one season. During this period, the player is only eligible to play official matches for two clubs.

He would only play for two clubs.

Maybe next season we could loan de bruyne and lukaku out together, to one team.

As stated above, I don't think either are ready to step up yet.

Or... maybe we figure that if we buy all the young Belgium players, hazard will want to join us :)

http://www1.skysport...11095/7453366/?

Genk have confirmed that they are in talks with Chelsea about the transfer of starlet Kevin De Bruyne.

Chelsea first tried to sign the highly-rated winger last summer, but talks broke down without an agreement being reached.

The Blues have maintained their interest and now they have re-opened talks with a view to sealing an £8million deal.

It is understood Chelsea would be willing to let De Bruyne complete the season on-loan back at Genk.

Genk revealed their director of sport Dirk Degraen had flown to London to complete talks with Chelsea.

"Dirk Degraen is in London and the expectation is that it (the transfer of De

Bruyne) will be finished this week," a Genk spokesman said.

"The assumption is that Kevin de Bruyne will be transferred to Chelsea and then will finish the season (on loan) at Genk."

Should the deal be finalised it will see Chelsea's third raid on Belgium in just six-months after they also completed deals for Romelu Lukaku and De Bruyne's former Genk team-mate Thibaut Courtois.

Edited January 25, 201214 yr by abramovich

When i play football manager i always to go the Belgium league for players, you can get some good players on the cheap.