For the first time in years we are facing a summer where we are looking to lose some of our biggest stars. This is due to the season without Champions League football.

Eden Hazard will be Real's big target. JT is out of contract. On the other hand it is that much harder to lure big names like Pogba to London.

How do you see the summer going in terms of players?

Warchest to be spent - £150m - £200m on new players.

We wont be able to compete with City and United so I'd say the Pogba's and Bale's are way out our league just now.

There are still some decent buys out there just look at Leicester, what we can't do is pay over the odd's for more Cuadrados.

We should keep players that want to stay, if others are not showing 100% commitment to the cause (and let's face it it's their fault we wont have CL football) then sell them ASAP.

If we get any of Conte or Simeone, I think we would perform exceptionally well in the market given both are shown to be shrewd with limited budgets. Even if we lose some key players, I think we would bring some decent players who might get the job done. Then if we do have a brilliant 2016/2017. The summer of 2017 see us making marquee signings again.

I'd like to see a clean out of several players if it's possible provided the new manager wants to go ahead with a plan like that because too many players have underperformed and their performances in the first half of the year were bordering on unforgivable and disgraceful.

 

I won't name names but if certain players don't want to be here and are not 100% committed to the club they should be shown the door as soon as possible, because I'd rather see players who may possess a little less talent but want to be here and play with the passion and desire week in week out.

 

JT simply needs to stay for leadership more than anything else! We have no real natural leaders coming through the ranks that could fill his void now so it's imperative that he stays but the way the club operates these days I wouldn't hold my breath that it happens.

 

Preferably I'd prefer to see a rebuild but it's up to the next manager what he does.

Edited February 29, 20169 yr by Jezz

Hazard will be leaving with CL football or not. That will just be his excuse now. Regarding Terry well that's just a diabolical decision. I can't see any other players leaving and they back the new manager.

It's probably too soon to second-guess this season completely but I think that if we do miss out on Europe then that might be for the best in the long-term. I think this club needs to reassess what it is doing at almost every level and the new coach needs to be part of that discussion.

 

If it is Conte then I'd give him the freedom to build the squad as he sees fit but I think the most important thing is for us to build a new spine in the team and at the moment we're lacking players in defence and midfield. That has to be the focus of the club, as does retaining players like Courtois, Fabregas and Costa.

 

Beyond that I think most other players are questionable. That includes Hazard, Oscar, Mikel, Matic, Pedro and Remy. Willian, Cahill, Ivanovic, Azpi, Rahman and Zouma are the ones I'd keep.

 

But the most important thing is that we spend money. We haven't done that for a while and it's seen us fall behind so we need to invest new money into the squad. I think the rumours of Sabatini coming in are also promising and I think if he is Conte's choice, we need to back him there.

 

The whole youth system/academy/loan system needs looking at too. Get rid of those who won't make it (Van Ginkel, Moses, Chalobah), give everyone a clean slate under the new coach and give them a chance. There's too much talent that we're not capitalising on, and it's just being wasted every year. There's no path for them to follow after the Youth Team which means we're stunting their growth at the age of 18. It's ridiculous.

 

So retain some players, let those who don't want to be part of Conte's team leave, invest in a new spine and set out a plan for developing young players to fill in the gaps. It's the most important summer we've had in a decade but it can also be a huge opportunity to set out what Chelsea is for the next 20 years.

Edited February 29, 20169 yr by ShedEnder91

I wouldn't sell any first team players. It's a myth that you have to sell players if you don't have CL football. They're all on long term contracts so they can't force a move.

BTW last major contributor or a big star we sold was Robben years back.

I wouldn't sell any first team players. It's a myth that you have to sell players if you don't have CL football. They're all on long term contracts so they can't force a move.

If they don't want to be here then what's the point?

Their value will nose dive and we will be paying a fortune to keep an unhappy player who isn't performing.

I wouldn't sell any first team players. It's a myth that you have to sell players if you don't have CL football. They're all on long term contracts so they can't force a move.

If Real wants Hazard and Eden wants to go he goes. That is the reality of it.

If Real wants Hazard and Eden wants to go he goes. That is the reality of it.

 

Madrid would be making a massive mistake if they think Hazard will change their fortunes in Spain, he really is struggling to perform, he shows some glimpses, but that's all they are.

 

We will want major bucks for him, even if he remains in poor form. And if that means Madrid turn their noses up and go elsewhere, and we get Eden to see out his contract until summer 2020, then he will have to knuckle down and forget about a Spanish pipe dream, and concentrate on returning to his old scintillating form of last season. 

Madrid would be making a massive mistake if they think Hazard will change their fortunes in Spain, he really is struggling to perform, he shows some glimpses, but that's all they are.

 

We will want major bucks for him, even if he remains in poor form. And if that means Madrid turn their noses up and go elsewhere, and we get Eden to see out his contract until summer 2020, then he will have to knuckle down and forget about a Spanish pipe dream, and concentrate on returning to his old scintillating form of last season. 

 

To be fair no 1 individual player is going to change the fortunes of Madrid especially if they are competing against the best team in the world in their league. If Ronaldo in his prime struggled to Knock Barca off the top than Eden has little chance.

 

Madrid need to change their "Galactico" Strategy of building a side of star individuals and actually look to build a "team". 

 

Coming back to Hazard I believe he will do incredibly well in Spain-He will get more time & space on the ball and the league is less physically demanding and therefore he will be at optimum fitness levels going into games. With Benzema/Ronaldo and potentially Lewandowski/Aubameyang Madrid will not be short on goals so he won't have the pressure of being the single point of attack for the team. 

To be fair no 1 individual player is going to change the fortunes of Madrid especially if they are competing against the best team in the world in their league. If Ronaldo in his prime struggled to Knock Barca off the top than Eden has little chance.

 

Madrid need to change their "Galactico" Strategy of building a side of star individuals and actually look to build a "team". 

 

Coming back to Hazard I believe he will do incredibly well in Spain-He will get more time & space on the ball and the league is less physically demanding and therefore he will be at optimum fitness levels going into games. With Benzema/Ronaldo and potentially Lewandowski/Aubameyang Madrid will not be short on goals so he won't have the pressure of being the single point of attack for the team. 

 

Not to turn this into another Jose thread, but the one time in the last seven years that they won the league they did this didn't they? They didn't buy any big names that summer and Jose built a very good team with players who would sacrifice themselves for the cause.

 

I think if they do sign Hazard then it's another step away from that and a return to the Galacticos-era. After Jose leaves they go right back to signing Bale and Rodriguez whereas I think Mourinho spent about £30 million on Modric and Coentrao as his biggest signings.

 

If he does go there I'm sure he'll do well but I don't see them usurping Barcelona any time soon. Barcelona are a great team, with a real philosophy of hard-work more than anything else. That's what we should aspire to be, that's what I think we'll become under Conte and that's why I think it might be a good move all around if Hazard left. 

 

Conte is a perfectionist obsessed with football - Hazard is by all reports the opposite. Either Eden buys into that new ethos or he leaves and we use the £60 million+ we'd get for him to buy a midfielder and a defender. 

While I agree about selling Hazard if he doesn't want to be here and throws a fit, I would do everything to keep him. Even if he wants to leave, I would make Madrid pay through their nose. He is one of the few elite players we have who can change a game on a whim. These players aren't easy to replace. Ask Pool how they replaced Suarez.

And I don't know if there will be a "warchest" available. I can see 50 odd million which might buy you 1 world class player in today's world. If they had money to back the manager, they could have backed Jose and we wouldn't have come to this.

I hope we are diplomatic with him and try as hard as we can to hold onto him. I would do the same with JT.

I don't think we will lose any players of note expect possibly jt. Real have a transfer ban looming, and in all likelihood won't be able to sign hazard.

We definitely need reinforcements although I don't think we are in the same situation as United were when they missed out under Moyes.

We already have a few star players, we need to sign some fighters and leaders that can help the stars shine.

I think we are actually in a good position to win the title next year.

I don't think we are the leading candidate for the title although City has a new coach and with all probability ManU too. Arsenal is Arsenal.

We need to sign 2-3 big names and keep hold of our stars. We can't drop a level because we had a bad period this season. It can't mean too much but it easily can.

I think the incoming manager has a decent squad of players to start with and a transfer kitty to go with it.He will need JT around the place and on the pitch.Four good signings to add to what we got and i think we will be competing on all fronts.

From what I can see, we have yet to be knocked out of the champions league....

I think we should sell hazard in the summer so we can still get decent money for him. He's not that great and we can play good football without him.

I'm not quite sure if he will be Real Mardid's big target.

I have no idea how you can rationalize that. He is one of the most gifted footballers there is. Getting rid of him is about the stupidest thing I can think of. If he wishes to go fine but we need to do everything to keep him IMO.

I have no idea how you can rationalize that. He is one of the most gifted footballers there is. Getting rid of him is about the stupidest thing I can think of. If he wishes to go fine but we need to do everything to keep him IMO.

 

Because we need to rebuild in other areas and we need proper characters there. A lot of people seem to think Hazard has lost his bottle this year.

He was so good this blip seems bad. He will be great again. I have zero doubt.

I don't see us selling any of our best players, we are still a top club despite the poor first half of the season. Enough with all the doom & gloom, we will strengthen in the summer, not weaken ourselves.

Madrid don't have the same pull they used to have in my eyes, Barca will continue to dominate La Liga with MSN.

I think it's quite realistic that we could target Pogba & Bale personally, whilst selling off the likes of Cuadrado etc.

Edited February 29, 20169 yr by Malcolm9