3 minutes ago, big blue said:

I dont think there is a need to replace him in january, we dont have europe to worry about, and id like to see us keep musonda or kenedy, so conte can have a good look at them, and see whether they can be relied on.

Its hard to bring in quality in january, especially attackers, so id prefer to sit on the money then move for our top targets, with the lure of champions league football, and playing for the champions of england....hopefully.

Danger is we lost a few players like Costa and Hazard or Pedro then we are struggling in the attacking and creativity part of the park.
Kennedy and RLC are good prospects but that's it at the minute, they don't have the experience a player like Oscar or the likes has and that matters especially if you are on a title charge.
Losing Oscar and not replacing him would no question weaken us and that's a dangerous game to play when we are in such a strong position so far.

While I don't think Oscar is offering much of late and I don't rate him particularly highly he is a good option to have if we suffer injuries/suspensions and I don't trust the likes of RLC or Kennedy to step in the way Oscar could.

 

Edited December 15, 20169 yr by Chelsbear

If he is sold, we need to buy a replacement. Look at the game yesterday, with Hazard not playing, we had no attacker replacement when Pedro went off. On another day, failing to kill off the game would mean a draw or lose. I don't think we could bank our title chase on everyone being fit, and I believe Conte knows it too. As much as it's difficult to buy quality players in January, how about buy back the other Hazard or proven EPL player form outside the top 6? We aren't going to be leading the league by 6 points at this stage every season, can't afford to f* it up because we want save a few Millions. 

8 hours ago, Chelsbear said:

I'd imagine if we were selling him we will have someone in mind to come in.

Van Ginkel is fit again apparently?

5 hours ago, the special one said:

Van Ginkel is fit again apparently?

Dont think Oscar is a CM in a 3-4-3. More in the mould of the inside forward.

9 hours ago, the special one said:

Van Ginkel is fit again apparently?

Don't joke.

He's bang average

400k a week, after tax

lord have mercy

If this all goes through, the disputed thread title affix 'little diamond' will ring true. Maybe deep down we always thought he'd have some gem-like value and allowed the metaphor to pass 

2 hours ago, Chelsbear said:

Don't joke.

He's bang average

as opposed to Oscar who is... 

 

 

...Also bang average. 

"Standard Sport understands that Shanghai have already made an inquiry to Mikel’s representatives and the midfielder is now giving it some thought." 
if this is true.. lol
AVB proper chels through and through

Mikel isn't going to China soon!

Perhaps "Diamond Mine" instead of "Little Diamond", if he nets us all this money?

Oscar could go to China for two or three seasons, make a fortune and still come back to Europe in his prime and pick up his career, possibly in Serie A.

2 hours ago, Chelsbear said:

Don't joke.

He's bang average

At only 24 he has room for improvement.

7 minutes ago, 1905 said:

At only 24 he has room for improvement.

I assumed he was at least 34 considering the extent to which he gets written off on here.

Van Ginkel looked promising in his few appearances before his injury, I thought he looked combative, wans't afraid to get stuck in. How did he do on loan at Stoke?

5 minutes ago, Zeta Orionis said:

Van Ginkel looked promising in his few appearances before his injury, I thought he looked combative, wans't afraid to get stuck in. How did he do on loan at Stoke?

Did well when played but didn't get too much of a look in. At PSV he was class though, 8 goals in 13 games for them. 

The impending transfer will see the Brazil international become the highest-paid player in the world on approximately £400,000 a week - that's £20.8m per year. Or, if you prefer, £57,143 per day. Or £2,381 per hour. Or £39 per minute.

Agree with much of this.

http://www.eurosport.co.uk/football/premier-league/2015-2016/a-60m-admission-of-defeat-how-oscar-promised-so-much-and-delivered-too-little-at-chelsea_sto5983776/story.shtml#uk-tw-po

1 hour ago, BelgradeCFC said:

The impending transfer will see the Brazil international become the highest-paid player in the world on approximately £400,000 a week - that's £20.8m per year. Or, if you prefer, £57,143 per day. Or £2,381 per hour. Or £39 per minute.

Not for long; Tevez could be signing a deal in China for 600k-ish per week 

Posted this elsewhere, the money these players are on is mind boggling...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/index.html

Hurr Oskar is sh*t his best purformance was that game against Juventus he was sh*t after that, even when he was a key part of a title-winning team who played some of the best football in the history of the club

Oscar is a Chelsea legend.  So is Demba Ba for that matter.

31 minutes ago, PloKoon13 said:

Hurr Oskar is sh*t his best purformance was that game against Juventus he was sh*t after that, even when he was a key part of a title-winning team who played some of the best football in the history of the club

While I agree that there are some exaggeration here, youre doing pretty much exactly the same just the other way around. The year we won the title he had 4-5 excellent games before the Christmas break, after that he was woeful and a large part of why our attacking play suffered. It wasnt just because Mourinho decide we were only going to sit back, key players also disapperead and the main culprit was Oscar. That ws probably his best season as a Chelsea player and I think thats saying something. Saying he wasnt a huge talent is wrong, he clearly was, but he never managed to put it together for more then a few games before he would disappea for weeks at a time. I think most of the vitrol towards him is based on the amount of playng time he got over other players despite clearly underperforming, the amount of praise he got for his "defensive ability" and 2-3 tackles a game, the contant excuses for why he was playing like ubbish which was  and the fact that Josè sold Mata, coming off one of the best individual seasons we had seen in a while,  because we had Oscar . Which wasnt his faut, but it is what it is. I think fair play to him he always seemed to give his all, but I think its been Clear for a while his time has come, he needs move on for himself more then anything. Who knows, maybe a change of scenery is what he needs. Surely its the only excuse left.

from today's press conference

Head coach Conte suggested the money on offer was simply too good to turn down for Chelsea and he will attempt to replace Oscar during next month’s transfer window.

“When there are incredible situations, it's very difficult to manage this,” said Conte. “My style is to take always the decision together with the club and to understand also some strange situations, some massive offers.”

Asked if he requested a guarantee from the Chelsea board that he will be able to reinvest the money received for Oscar, Conte replied: “Yeah, I always talk with the club, the board, and I explained my thoughts about every situation.

"Then it's normal when you are in a club, you try and make the best decision. There are situations that are amazing and it's very difficult to try and solve the situation in the best way.”

Edited December 16, 20169 yr by havelschayes

I've always liked Oscar and respect what he's contributed to the club in the last few years, but I think it's the right time to move on and a big-money offer like this cannot be turned down. 

I don't blame Oscar for accepting the rumoured offer from Shanghai because the wages are simply insane and too good to reject.

He's been criticised a lot over the years, and I think he hasn't always lived up to the hype that was expected back from 2012 but he's been a solid contributor and I don't really have a bad word to say about him.

If this is indeed the end for him at Chelsea, then I wish him nothing but the best for the future.

Edited December 16, 20169 yr by Jezz

1 hour ago, Xfaxtor said:

While I agree that there are some exaggeration here, youre doing pretty much exactly the same just the other way around. The year we won the title he had 4-5 excellent games before the Christmas break, after that he was woeful and a large part of why our attacking play suffered. It wasnt just because Mourinho decide we were only going to sit back, key players also disapperead and the main culprit was Oscar. That ws probably his best season as a Chelsea player and I think thats saying something. Saying he wasnt a huge talent is wrong, he clearly was, but he never managed to put it together for more then a few games before he would disappea for weeks at a time. I think most of the vitrol towards him is based on the amount of playng time he got over other players despite clearly underperforming, the amount of praise he got for his "defensive ability" and 2-3 tackles a game, the contant excuses for why he was playing like ubbish which was  and the fact that Josè sold Mata, coming off one of the best individual seasons we had seen in a while,  because we had Oscar . Which wasnt his faut, but it is what it is. I think fair play to him he always seemed to give his all, but I think its been Clear for a while his time has come, he needs move on for himself more then anything. Who knows, maybe a change of scenery is what he needs. Surely its the only excuse left.

There's no doubt that Oscar, during his Chelsea career on the whole, has been guilty of inconsistency, but he was brilliant in the first half of that season. There is no way we could have played the way we did without him; he was outstanding both individually, and as a part of a system which was the best in the league by an enormous distance. He only really lost that form in the second half of the season when he wasn't starting as regularly (and also suffered from a couple of injuries) as José leaned towards starting Ramires for the added solidity following the Tottenham debacle on New Year's Day. As a sidenote (mainly because I don't like to think about Benitez's tenure), I don't think we should forget his contribution to our Europa League win. How many games did he play that season? 50? 60?

I think the idea that he was only picked because of his defensive contribution is somewhat of a myth as well.

One of the main reasons that Oscar was a favourite of José's is because of how effective he is at pressing, how intelligent a player he is, and how good an understanding he has (had?) with his teammates. Bear in mind that pressing is as much about attacking as it is about defending; it's not necessarily about disrupting the attacks of one's opponents for the sake of it, but forcing them into errors which permit your side to win the ball as high up the pitch as possible, therefore theoretically putting your side in the best position possible to score.

This, ultimately, is why Mata was dropped. He simply wasn't capable of playing in a system in which everybody was expected to contribute off the ball. Regardless of whether or not we had Oscar, Mata would not have had a place in that Chelsea side. The man is a genius, no one can fault his talent, his vision, or his attitude, but he is simply just not very good off the ball. Oscar was picked as a starter in that side because he could play a part in an XI which, due to its understanding, cooperation and diligence, be better than the sum of its parts (evidenced by the fact that we ultimately pissed the league and played better than we had for several years). Mata was dropped as a starter because he was incapable of playing in that kind of system. The two are more or less mutually exclusive.