19 minutes ago, DrogbaIsKing said:

There's no reason to pull this in the middle of the season much less a title chase it just reeks of greed. Surely any raise he wants can be discussed in the summer or else he moves on and we buy another striker 

Of course if Costa was intelligent, rational and level-headed he'd realise that more offers will come in the Summer. And if he's a title winner and/or top goalscorer then he'll get offered even greater money, especially if multiple clubs enter the bidding. But I don't think Costa is particularly bright unfortunately. 

13 minutes ago, Jose'sAconte said:

If we were to sell Costa, does anyone have any realistic suggestions as to who we could replace him with? We'd need someone who can equal his goal scoring tally and have the same impact on games. If im being honest i can't think of anyone we could get and reluctantly would give him enough money to satisfy him so that he stays however i have a few doubts hes going to reach any good form again this season.

Right now there's not many options. If he leaves over the summer could make a play for lukaku or cavani maybe? Or give batshuayi his chance 

I have read at least 5 versions of the Costa drama. From Costa had a fight with the medical staff ( where's the pretty Eva when we need her), to he told Conte to get f* and got the same response in return. I have no idea why all the sudden every paper got inside source about Costa, must be his facebook leaking information. He will play next weekend and shut up all the scums.

I've wanted Edinson Cavani in Chelsea blue for years and it seems like its always rumored he wants to come and it never happens

These arseholes reporting terms agreed with china need put down, you cant just make sh*t up out of thin air and not be accountable, it's disruptive to a business, it could be tantamount to slander, it actually impacts Chelsea as a business, none the less I dont buy teh greedy Costa bollox, remember he wanted a move back to Athletico who would have paid him half what we do, if that, so it's not all about money for him obviously. If he is genuinely unhappy here then he should leave in the summer, he said he loves teh fans here, maybe England just doesn't suit him, I'd rather live in Spain too tbf and I'm from here, however the least he owes to teh fans who support him so well is to keep putting in performances until summer, we buy griezmann, nice knowing you all the best.. 

now I've seen he'll almost definitely move on in the summer...have to think there's someone world class we can buy if that's the case

2 minutes ago, DrogbaIsKing said:

I've wanted Edinson Cavani in Chelsea blue for years and it seems like its always rumored he wants to come and it never happens

You can't have watched him too often against English sides in that time.

1 hour ago, DonAntonio said:

These arseholes reporting terms agreed with china need put down, you cant just make sh*t up out of thin air and not be accountable, it's disruptive to a business, it could be tantamount to slander, it actually impacts Chelsea as a business,

How do you know this isn't actually the case? Agents 'agree terms' on behalf of their clients all the time. Other than that, it's nothing like "slander" so maybe we can untwist those knickers now?

On another note, isn't it great to read through a thread on a football forum and see not-so-subtle xenophobia go unchallenged. What a f**king joke. When non-Brits behave in the exact same way as British clubs have been behaving for decades it is apparently a cause for moral panic.

Football has always existed in an economic bubble. Serie A clubs spending big in the 90s is functionally no different to Man United, Madrid and Chelsea in the early 00s, City and PSG more recently or now China. Money is what drives success in football. If that wasn't the case then Arsenal would win trophies. 

Here's the thing; your precious Little England doesn't have any sort of implied right to the best players. The English Premier League is not the Holy Grail of football. Dismissing players who choose to play in China is rich when for the last two decades the EPL as a whole has relied on it's superior wages to attract players, let alone what we've done at Chelsea.

Private investment from China is not a threat but a natural change to the market. There is no reason why, given the level of investment, the best players in the world should not go to China and make the Chinese Super League the best league in the world. Money breaks tradition, and given how much sh*t our club has endured by bitter fans around this very fact, arguing against that is laughably hypocritical. "f**k China"? f**k Europe, f**k UEFA, and f**k tradition, I say. 

Couch it in whatever reason you want, but I suspect some people are not being honest and just saying they don't like the idea of non-Europeans being major players in football.

5 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

How do you know this isn't actually the case? Agents 'agree terms' on behalf of their clients all the time. Other than that, it's nothing like "slander" so maybe we can untwist those knickers now?

On another note, isn't it great to read through a thread on a football forum and see not-so-subtle xenophobia go unchallenged. What a f**king joke. When non-Brits behave in the exact same way as British clubs have been behaving for decades it is apparently a cause for moral panic.

Football has always existed in an economic bubble. Serie A clubs spending big in the 90s is functionally no different to Man United, Madrid and Chelsea in the early 00s, City and PSG more recently or now China. Money is what drives success in football. If that wasn't the case then Arsenal would win trophies. 

Here's the thing; your precious Little England doesn't have any sort of implied right to the best players. The English Premier League is not the Holy Grail of football. Dismissing players who choose to play in China is rich when for the last two decades the EPL as a whole has relied on it's superior wages to attract players, let alone what we've done at Chelsea.

Private investment from China is not a threat but a natural change to the market. There is no reason why, given the level of investment, the best players in the world should not go to China and make the Chinese Super League the best league in the world. Money breaks tradition, and given how much sh*t our club has endured by bitter fans around this very fact, arguing against that is laughably hypocritical. "f**k China"? f**k Europe, f**k UEFA, and f**k tradition, I say. 

Couch it in whatever reason you want, but I suspect some people are not being honest and just saying they don't like the idea of non-Europeans being major players in football.

Calling it xenophobia is quite an extreme reaction. 

Conte has worked incredibly hard on and off the field this season, and by and large the media have had NOTHING to work with to try and derail our season.

So I am really pissed off at Costa and his team in what they are doing here. All of a sudden we are all over the back pages, and other players are having to "talk him round" ... which can only be a distraction at a time when we want 100% focus on the pitch.

Costa is clearly a temperamental person, which is partly why when he was signed, we also bought his mate Felipe Luis. I honestly think that if Luis had been played at leftback and was still here, then Costa would be alot happier, alot more settled and none of this sh*t would be coming up ...

Can't see him staying beyond the summer now. Even if Costa does a U-Turn in his attitude I think Conte will now want to get rid, which for me would be the right decision. I would certainly trust Conte & the Club  to come up with a suitable replacement, or for Conte to get the maximum out of the other strikers that we have on our books instead.

 

 

A few more reports out about this, this morning. The Times is writing Costa rejected a £200.000 a week five year contract the club offered him and then his head was turned by that insane China-offer after that.

To me it sounds like the best we can hope for is a good truce, Costa stays motivated and fires us to the title before he is gone in the summer. Which is really unfortunate as we'll be significantly weakened for next season then but it is what it is. He's brazilian(there is a reason why so many of them chase the money), have won the PL, won the spanish league and maybe he's satisfied with that and want more money for himself, his family and his charity.

Worst thing that could happen is Costa going sour already though. But i hope him and Conte work something out until may.

So calling out xenophobics, then the next sentence calling people"little Englanders". You're not very bright are you.

6 hours ago, SydneyChelsea said:

How do you know this isn't actually the case? Agents 'agree terms' on behalf of their clients all the time. Other than that, it's nothing like "slander" so maybe we can untwist those knickers now?

On another note, isn't it great to read through a thread on a football forum and see not-so-subtle xenophobia go unchallenged. What a f**king joke. When non-Brits behave in the exact same way as British clubs have been behaving for decades it is apparently a cause for moral panic.

Football has always existed in an economic bubble. Serie A clubs spending big in the 90s is functionally no different to Man United, Madrid and Chelsea in the early 00s, City and PSG more recently or now China. Money is what drives success in football. If that wasn't the case then Arsenal would win trophies. 

Here's the thing; your precious Little England doesn't have any sort of implied right to the best players. The English Premier League is not the Holy Grail of football. Dismissing players who choose to play in China is rich when for the last two decades the EPL as a whole has relied on it's superior wages to attract players, let alone what we've done at Chelsea.

Private investment from China is not a threat but a natural change to the market. There is no reason why, given the level of investment, the best players in the world should not go to China and make the Chinese Super League the best league in the world. Money breaks tradition, and given how much sh*t our club has endured by bitter fans around this very fact, arguing against that is laughably hypocritical. "f**k China"? f**k Europe, f**k UEFA, and f**k tradition, I say. 

Couch it in whatever reason you want, but I suspect some people are not being honest and just saying they don't like the idea of non-Europeans being major players in football.

It is really insulting that you refer to our country as " Precious Little England". You obviously have some hidden issues here. Get over it mate and start contributing some balanced and considered arguments. Your thinking may be influenced by the amount China investment subsidises the Australian economy. We all know China is a growing economy but that doesn't mean they will or should take all the best footballers. In fact they themselves have just announced they are limiting the number of foreign players to three. The best players generally want to play at the best clubs and in the best league so there is an "implied right" for the best players to come to the EPL. Are you really saying the EPL isn't the best league in the world. My understanding is that it has the biggest TV deal in football and is watched more than any other league in the world. The MLS has been trying to break into football for decades and is still nowhere near being able to compete with the premier league in terms of attracting top players so why should China be any different?

Again your comments about people not liking non-Europeans being major players in football is just wrong. It seems to me that it's you that has a chip on your shoulder.

Playing for a club who aim to win the major trophies in England and Europe each season on a 5 year contract at £200,000 a week should be enough.If it is purely money sell to China for as much as possible in the summer and recruit again.Paying £300,000 a week is a slippery slope imo.Hope he stays but i wouldnt bet on it.

He had a row with Pedro during the Tottenham game. Maybe he is upsetting the dressing room a bit and Conte just wants to put him back in his box. Maybe it's just his agent ruffling feathers for more money. Whatever it is Costa is going to leave at some point. There have been too many stories about him wanting to leave so I'm preparing for the worst and the club are probably doing the same. It's a real problem but we need him to at least get back on track until the end of the season and help us win the PL. Would he really want to go to China if he can't even settle in London. I'm not convinced by the Chinese money stories. I could be wrong and he was matey with Oscar but somehow I just can't see it.

Unless Conte somehow works his managerial magic and convinces Diego that his future is at the club we should sell and replace. The problem is I can't see us attracting anyone of the same quality.

On the China v EPL argument, a key difference for me is that while any nations clubs can buy who they want if they've got the money, it takes more than that to be the 'best' league in the world. Here we had an advantage that we already had established clubs with pedigree and more importantly, an established league with quality footballers. In China they are lining up high quality players next to amateur quality players. It'll take them forever to establish strength in depth and club identities that will be needed to genuinely interest anyone outside China, and looking at the crowds, many people inside China. That is why this is doomed to fail.

As far as Costa is concerned, I'll be very disappointed to see him leave but I hope we can replace him with someone just as good and a lot more stable. I'll be quite surprised if he's our centre forward by the start of next season.

I think it's obvious he will be gone in 6 months time but it's vital we keep him for the rest of the season or we lose a huge advantage in the title race. There is just no one to replace him with and I'm not convinced there will be in the summer either.

It's a huge shame as he was looking at home or so we thought under Conte but something is obviously not right.

 

9 hours ago, DrogbaIsKing said:

I've wanted Edinson Cavani in Chelsea blue for years and it seems like its always rumored he wants to come and it never happens

He is so overrated by some, misses way to many chances. I think he's get eaten alive in this league.

18 minutes ago, Chelsbear said:

I think it's obvious he will be gone in 6 months time but it's vital we keep him for the rest of the season or we lose a huge advantage in the title race. There is just no one to replace him with and I'm not convinced there will be in the summer either.

It's a huge shame as he was looking at home or so we thought under Conte but something is obviously not right.

 

I've not really been keeping much track of this situation so am I missing something? Why do most people seem to think he's going? I haven't seen anything to suggest this bar some gossip from less than reputable sources. 

55 minutes ago, Andy North said:

 Are you really saying the EPL isn't the best league in the world.

Premier league is the most watched but is far from the best.

The question is why are only our players being targeted ?

There are certainly a lot bigger names in Europe like Messi, Ronaldo, Iniesta, Neymar, Suarez, Zlatan. Why haven't we heard of the Chinese clubs offering insane amounts to these players ?  Seems like there's a rat at the club who's turning the players' head on the inside and getting his cut for the dirty work.

Just now, Remodez said:

I've not really been keeping much track of this situation so am I missing something? Why do most people seem to think he's going? I haven't seen anything to suggest this bar some gossip from less than reputable sources. 

Every major media outlet and the more reliable journalists have all been saying the same things about this situation. It's not just a little snippet in the Sun or Metro.

Costa has a reputation of throwing these strops in his career and we went through it last season too. He even admitted at the start of the summer he wanted to move to Atletico because he wasn't enjoying life in London and missed home so we knew it wasn't going to be a long term thing.

The Conte interview was vague and he didn't give very much away which is the right thing to do unlike the way West Hams manager went about the Payet thing. Although Vague it did give the impression there was something more going on than a simple back problem.

He might not go this month but I'd wager a large amount he will be gone in the Summer. The only reason it didn't last year was because the club blocked it despite the players wishes and I doubt they will do the same this year.

I'll have no problem should he stick it till the Summer then move on, if we are left in the lurch this month it's going to be horrible.
 

1 minute ago, Nick05 said:

The question is why are only our players being targeted ?

There are certainly a lot bigger names in Europe like Messi, Ronaldo, Iniesta, Neymar, Suarez, Zlatan. Why haven't we heard of the Chinese clubs offering insane amounts to these players ?  Seems like there's a rat at the club who's turning the players' head on the inside and getting his cut for the dirty work.

The Ronaldo bid was already reported on.

If we get a phenomenal offer for him, throw that money at a Griezman, lewandowski or Aubameyang, it will better better spent than Yooniteds 90 million on that useless Pogba....

5 minutes ago, kiwi1691 said:

Premier league is the most watched but is far from the best.

If your talking about the Spanish league they have two possibly three good teams and the depth of quality in their whole league is nowhere near as good as PL. Overall the Spanish League cannot compete with the quantity of games generating good entertaining football in the PL. It is the most watched for a reason.