Le Sport 10 are claiming that we're preparing a £47m bid for Marquinhos...looks like Koulibay deal has stalled...we're not prepared to meet Napoli's evaluation

I'd go in for Van Dijk, I like Acerbi, based on what I've seen, but that won't happen.

VD is a good choice (if you know what I mean)... Though I think he recently signed a new 5 year deal at Southampton?

Yeah I'd imagine most clubs wont be willing to sell their best CB's with less than a week of the window remaining. Next to no time to get replacements in.

it's either gonna be koulibaly (napoli have an abundant of cb's with maksimovic & mangala coming, so there's still a chance if we pay the money napoli wants) maksimovic, or johnny effin evans

 

at this rate the latter seems more likely

 

edit : good news arse just signed mustafi so no competition for the jonny

Edited August 26, 20169 yr by havelschayes

Nicolas Nkoulou ?

De vrij being linked again, it seems.

DV is a real risk...he's had 2 ACL surgeries already and has to have fluid drawn off his knees after every match...doubt he can manage 2 games a week...we should be looking outside of Italy...Tah, Fabinho, Toprak...

Tah would be like having another Kurt Zouma

, both not the best with the ball at their feet.

Edited August 27, 20169 yr by Kante Conte

Nicolas Nkoulou ?

 

Just signed for Lyon this summer, so no doing. BTW we could have picked him up for free.

Niklas Süle, probably too young though, I mentioned Acerbi, he'd be cheaper than other options and he's underrated.

Edited August 27, 20169 yr by Floyd25

Niklas Süle, probably too young though, I mentioned Acerbi, he'd be cheaper than other options and he's underrated.

 

Better call Süle? 

Niklas Süle, probably too young though, I mentioned Acerbi, he'd be cheaper than other options and he's underrated.

Acerbi is also left footed which imo is a huge bonus, probably why I was excited about Romagnoli

Looks like we're about to offer €25m plus bonuses for De Vrji...

Seems like Jose is looking for another CB, maybe he's not willing to play with Smalling. He could be an option as well.

Am not confident we will sign a quality CB this summer at all

On August 28, 2016 at 08:27, Brutos said:

Am not confident we will sign a quality CB this summer at all

Yep, looks extremely unlikely now. I guess Ivanovic is going to be our added depth at CB.

On ?28?.?08?.?2016 at 15:27, Brutos said:

Am not confident we will sign a quality CB this summer at all

Havent been for a while. Wasnt a huge fan of Koulibaly and at the quoted price Im glad it didnt happen. We get Christensen back this year, so not much point spending on someone not a guaranteed starter. Its slim pickens out there and when Bonucci took himself of the list there werent man Clear Upgrades available for purchase

Wait until Laporte wants to leave Bilbao and jump straight in.

Ben Fairthorne ?@BFairthorne  9m9 minutes ago

Expect Chelsea to be the biggest spenders tomorrow. Club working on 3 different top class central defenders, 1 will arrive.

please dont post ben fairthrone tweets, he's indykalia level itk, maybe worst

Alrighty, now that the window's done and dusted I thoight I might take a little stocktake. There was some good names around, particularly the younger guys, and with this surely being Terry and maybe Ivanovic's last seasons we will be in the market again for a CB.

 

One good thing about this market is that three or four of our main rivals have filled their need for a CB this season and are unlikely to be back in the market next summer. City, Barca, Arsenal and Liverpool all invested and satisfied their needs on paper and shouldn't need to dip in next summer. Real Madrid and Bayern look like they will be very happy with their pairings for some time, and Medhi Benatia has started s incredibly for Juve so they will be sorted for awhile yet. Hopefully.

Given this, it looks like the three main players in the CB market over the year ahead will be Chelsea, PSG and Manchester United. Of the three, Man Utd have the weakest defense on paper, with two somewhat injury prone defenders in Rojo and Jones, and Smalling and Blind may be not up to the level Mourinho would want for starters. 

Next summer I believe there are three main players who will be hotly contested:

1. Aymeric Laporte

He's quick as hell, a brilliant reader of the game and great on the ball. His playstyle reminds me of Ashley Cole or William Gallas in that they back themselves to chase down any one and more often than not, they win. Man City and Barca have been salivating over him for some time, but their interest cooled after his injury in January sidelined him over the summer. It's hard to say whether Guardiola wanted to pair him with Stones or Stones was actually a second choice, and Barca similarity opted for Umtiti this summer. I think Man It's would he our biggest competition for him, because he is a natural companion to physical powerhouses like Zouma or Bailly.

Will be interesting to see if he declares for France or Spain internationally, like Azpilicueta he could be eligible for both. France have an amazing crop of Central defenders coming through.

 

2. Kalidou Koulibaly

We all know about this one. He'll be a hot property in the summer, and De Laurentiis won't be able to play the same trick twice. I expect us to make a take it or leave it offer around 40m.

3. Kostas Manolas

I like this guy. Physical and fast and good on the ball too. He opted to stay at Roma after heavy interest but they appear to be in freefall and Spalletti is probably going to loss the dressing room. Clubs will be monitoring the situation pretty closely. He'd be an ideal replacement for Thiago Silva and I expect PSG to move for him.

4. Andreas Christensen

Barring injury, there is simply no way that bigger clubs than Monchengladbach aren't monitoring his situation. Christensen already said he won't return to Chelsea if he is isn't given first-team squad assurances so unless there is a radical change of policy at the club he will be on the market come the summer.

He's not as phyiscally inclined as the above three but he just seems to snuff out chances with no fuss. He reminds me a lot of Ricardo Carvalho, bizzarely. Hope we keep him but it's unlikely.

 

 

@SydneyChelsea  Why do you believe it is unlikely to keep him?

We've never shown the requisite faith in a youth product to come in and perform. Based on the past history, we won't keep him and he'll be sold because we won't have plans to integrate him into the first team.

Get Christensen back and offer him a long contract , then we will be fine for a few years. Considering how much decent CB cost these days, this guy is a 50M player in a couple of years time, if not next season.