Send him across the border and we will get some deep fried mars bar down him washed down with some Irn Bru

Don't give him water, keep him out of bright light, and whatever you do, do not feed him after midnight.

Only thing nagging me about this transfer is how he has spent the last few months injured. Sheva and Torres both suffered injuries Before/early on with us and they both flopped. Lets hope Costa can prove Chelsea isnt a place where strikers go and die.

Only thing nagging me about this transfer is how he has spent the last few months injured. Sheva and Torres both suffered injuries Before/early on with us and they both flopped. Lets hope Costa can prove Chelsea isnt a place where strikers go and die.

I wouldn't say they're the same though, Shevchenko was about to hit 30 and had had a serious knee operation, had he been much younger I'm betting he'd have been fine and Torres signed after a few seasons of a recurring injury, Costa's injury was in the final few months of the season.

It's not that I don't think he's going to be great for our system, similar to drogs who managed to occupy the space and time of defenses, I'm just hoping we don't end up with a saurez here is all...

It's not that I don't think he's going to be great for our system, similar to drogs who managed to occupy the space and time of defenses, I'm just hoping we don't end up with a saurez here is all...

 

I have to admit, that is my main concern !

Pie mash & eels, he'll be at Manzies twice a week!

Pie & mash with liqueur a real treat, then jellied eels with a few pints in the evening, nothing like it.

What's the hold up? Someone who lives near Cobham make your way down there tomorrow and report back. Ta.

Maybe Atletico will not rubber stamp the move until they get the 24mill euros for Luis too/Lukaku on loan/Lukaku sold to them etc etc. 

I'm sure it will be announced soon, be patient folks

^{From fourfourtwo.com by Alex Hess:}

 

^{Chelsea obviously owe much to Roman Abramovich for the way he has funded the grand influx of high-end footballers to Stamford Bridge. But while the club has accrued immense playing talent since that game-changing summer of 2003, it’s not the case that all those glamorous acquisitions have lived up to their billing. Indeed, while no club will ever boast a 100% success rate with transfers, there is an unmistakable recurring theme to Chelsea’s Abramovich-era transfer business: the staggering rate at which high-profile strikers have flopped miserably.
 
It is a pattern likely to worry Chelsea fans who would rather their club recruited dead-eyed goal machines than shot-shanking figures of fun. And it is a pattern that should be equally troubling for Diego Costa, the west Londoners’ latest mega-money centre-forward. But will he fill Didier Drogba’s venerated boots, or step instead into the well-worn clown shoes of Stamford Bridge?
 
Costa does not seem a man worried by omens, but he would do well not to inspect Fernando Torres’ goal return since the Spaniard’s £50m move from Liverpool. In the three seasons preceding that January 2011 move he averaged exactly 0.5 goals per appearance; for Chelsea that has all but halved to 0.26. Similar slumps affected Adrian Mutu (0.4 to 0.26), Hernan Crespo (0.62 to 0.34), Mateja Kezman (0.77 to 0.17), Claudio Pizarro (0.42 to a woeful 0.06) and, last but not least, Andrei Shevchenko (0.66 to 0.28).} 

 

^{The exception to this rule is of course Drogba himself, who adapted rather better to west London, evolving into a bona fide club talisman by bagging 157 goals and 10 major trophies in eight merry seasons, and winning the 2012 Champions League with his final kick as a Chelsea player.}
 

^{The received wisdom is that Drogba’s incredible feats were, somewhat perversely, at least partly responsible for the doomed fortunes of other Stamford Bridge strikers – the logic here being that Drogba’s gargantuan presence both on the field and in the dressing room left no room for another forward to flourish. He was like a giant, blossoming sunflower, monopolising the daylight and the rain. Anyone transplanted into his space was doomed to wither and die in his shadow.} 

^{There have been exceptions. Nicolas Anelka and, to some extent, Demba Ba managed kept their heads above water during their brief stints, but these were players whose modest fees and clear secondary billing functioned to keep expectations comparatively low. Crespo’s feats probably don’t deserve to be listed alongside the more dismal ones of Torres and Kezman, although his role in Chelsea’s story is still a peripheral one. But almost to a man – with the obvious omission – Chelsea’s big-budget strikers under Abramovich’s ownership have ranked somewhere between luckless disappointment and abject failure.}

 

^{With Costa the first prime-aged, big-money forward to join the club since Drogba’s departure, Blues fans will hope that Chelsea’s centre-forward curse can be lifted. But there are other factors than the Ivorian's shadow. 
 
Chief among these has been Chelsea’s apparent tendency to prioritise profile and reputation ahead of tactical suitability or even outright necessity, and thereby going some way setting their signings up to fail. Abramovich’s initial splurge upon taking over in 2003 is the best example of this, when Mutu and Crespo were added to a forward line that already boasted the lesser-known but far more dovetailed partnership of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen – with the further additions of Drogba and Kezman the following year. 
 
Similarly, the wily, predatory instincts of Shevchenko were never a clear fit for the robust athleticism demanded by a Jose Mourinho attack, and the one-time Serie A goal machine was often forced out wide and indeed out of the side altogether first by the Portuguese and then Avram Grant.} 
 

^{Roman's strikers}

• ^{Adrian Mutu £15.8m}
• ^{Hernan Crespo £16.8m}
• ^{Mateja Kezman £5m}
• ^{Didier Drogba £24m}
• ^{Andrei Shevchenko £30m}
• ^{Claudio Pizarro free}
• ^{Franco di Santo £3m}
• ^{Nicolas Anelka £15m}
• ^{Daniel Sturridge £3.5m}
• ^{Fernando Torres £50m}
• ^{Romelu Lukaku £11m}
• ^{Victor Moses £12m}
• ^{Demba Ba £7m}
• ^{Samuel Eto'o free}
• ^{Diego Costa £32m}

^{Torres was another whose tightly-fashioned tactical requirements – namely, creating as many one-on-one chances as possible – made him ill-suited to flourish in a side geared towards Drogba’s very different strengths. It should, however, be noted that Torres has been laid low not only by tactical unsuitability but physical degradation, psychological torment, managerial disinterest and dressing-room fractiousness.}

 

^{Costa is not a man to shirk a challenge, literal or metaphorical. The Brazilian-born, controversially-naturalised Spaniard has become known for as much for his on-field belligerence as for his rampant goalscoring, and in this sense he would appear rather more suited to spearheading a Mourinho front line than his far meeker predecessors like Shevchenko or Torres. More generally, too, it’s a style that may see him acclimatise to English football – an enterprise constantly reinforcing its self-identity as a blood-and-thunder battleground – with relish rather than resentment.
 
Indeed, to summon the spectre of Drogba one last time (and given the Ivorian’s undying presence at Stamford Bridge, Costa might as well get used to it), the new man’s career trajectory thus far certainly bears more than a passing resemblance to his iconic precursor.
 
Both spent a good number of their early years toiling in the lower echelons of Europe’s secondary leagues (Drogba in France’s Ligue 2, Costa in the second tiers of Portugal and Spain). Both, too, underwent fairly nondescript campaigns in their respective top flights before a two-year breakout spell that earned them a switch to Chelsea – at 26, Drogba was only seven months older than Costa at the time of his move.
 
Costa's move is obviously vitally important to him, but it's a key one for Chelsea too. A club so wealthy and successful cannot continue to act as a strikers’ graveyard forever, after all, and the more fundamental omens would appear to favour their new recruit. Perhaps Costa, a strong but skilful forward apparently unaffected by physical challenges or psychological pressure, can achieve enough success to make Drogba a happy memory rather than an impossible yardstick.}

 

Edited July 8, 201412 yr by Elliott

I like how they include Di Santo on the list as if he was bought as more than a potentially good player. 

 

Also they've added about £3m onto Moses fee... And he's a winger... 

 

The way I look at it is that Shevchenko and Torres were the bad buys. Both had been struggling with injuries and weren't at their best when we bought them, we made a mistake on both occasions paying so much for them. 

 

Mutu was playing well but inexplicably decided to join Kerry Dixon in the loo for a line of the white stuff. 

 

Crespo had a few personal issues that meant he couldn't settle to life in England but his scoring record was very good in the games he did play and had he not had off field problems would have been a very successful signing. 

 

Anelka was a success. 

 

Pizarro, Kezman and Ba were never intended as first choice players. 

 

Lukaku we might make a hefty profit on despite only making about 5 appearances in a Chelsea.

 

So when you break it down it's not a curse but the two biggest signings didn't work out.

 

As the article suggests however Costa is in a better condition age and form wise than Torres and Shevchenko were when we bought them. 

As the article suggests however Costa is in a better condition age and form wise than Torres and Shevchenko were when we bought them. 

He was sh*te in the World Cup (as were practically all of the Spanish team) but I think that was down to the slow tiki-taka butchering his game and coming off the back of a hefty injury. My fear is that despite him passing the medical we won't get the chance to see him play a proper match before he's finally signed. Disaster if he's lost a yard of pace as that explosiveness set him apart last year.

That said, we still really need another striker we can rely on. Don't care if it's Lukaku or not, just someone who can be a strong plan B.

He was sh*te in the World Cup (as were practically all of the Spanish team) but I think that was down to the slow tiki-taka butchering his game and coming off the back of a hefty injury. My fear is that despite him passing the medical we won't get the chance to see him play a proper match before he's finally signed. Disaster if he's lost a yard of pace as that explosiveness set him apart last year.

That said, we still really need another striker we can rely on. Don't care if it's Lukaku or not, just someone who can be a strong plan B.

 

He shouldn't have gone to the World Cup or at least not been first choice in my opinion... He was basically not fit for the last month of the season and Atletico kept rushing him back when clearly he wasn't ready because it was such a huge run in for them. 

 

I doubt he was 100% match fit for the World Cup have not played for a few weeks. 

 

Hopefully with a rest now and a decent pre-season he will be sharp and match fit for the start for the season. 

It's always a worry though when our last 2 big money strikers were bought when carrying some sort of injury problem...

Hopefully though this is nothing serious and our medical team done a good work up on him.

Is 30 million for a striker big money now days? I dont really think so.

Just think, Luke shaw cost more than Costa!!!

I would be really happy if he gets between 10-16 goals in the league next season.

Will we ever sign this guy?

Is 30 million for a striker big money now days? I dont really think so.

Just think, Luke shaw cost more than Costa!!!

Did he not sign for closer to £25 million with add ons while Costa is £32 million?

I still think it's fairly big money, I certainly don't see us spending the likes of £50 million one one player again.

No idea what's holding the deal up, thought it would be done as soon as Spain got back from the WC.

Edited July 8, 201412 yr by RFC_CFC

At a guess, I would think he is on holiday now and it will all be signed off once he arrives in England for pre season.

There is an agreement but you would think that the club would want to do a medical and then get the contract signed.

Did he not pass a medical though? I'm sure the BBC ran with that as breaking news before or during the world cup...although I could be wrong.

We signed Cesc pretty quick and got that done so not sure why we would be waiting till he's done on his holiday...then again who knows.

I think Barca were pushing the deal because they wanted to sign someone else.

I wonder if Lukaku is part of the Costa deal and thats holding things up.

Could be although he's not moving on loan going by his comments so it would be a direct transfer in which case I would think we'd only be paying £10-15 million for Costa if Lukaku was included.

Maybe thats what the delay is, maybe Chelsea are trying to loan him out again and he wants to leave.

True.

Could be a longggg summer if it is that though!