If Hazard is going to Madrid, we probably should be looking at first dibs on their rejects. Bale, Isco or Asensio.

City's bench looks tasty too with Sane and Mahrez there.

 

interesting quote, does this mean he’s perhaps been told by the club he’s in our first team plans and he’s rejected the move?

7 hours ago, sonic90 said:

If Hazard is going to Madrid, we probably should be looking at first dibs on their rejects. Bale, Isco or Asensio.

City's bench looks tasty too with Sane and Mahrez there.

No, yes, yes, yes, maybe - definitely prefer any of the three in the middle, exceptional players.

I know that the transfer ban is covered elsewhere but the two go very much hand in hand.

First off its good that FIFA have dealt with the appeal although the outcome is disappointing but at least the club will be able to have the matter reviewed by truly independent eyes.Had they, FIFA, dragged their heels then we would have been well and truly stuffed but at least now we can move forward.

 CAS look at each case on its merits  and whilst their ruling in previous cases of a similar nature they have judged on is interesting I for one have no idea how they will view Chelsea alleged offences even though FIFA barely came out of the Real Madrid case smelling of Roses and based on the number ant type of supposed incidents their case is closer to ours than the Barca and Atletico charges 

So back to timing. We have 21 days from the date of the FIFA ruling to refer to CAS. That appeal almost certainly will include an application to suspend the sanctions that will be ruled on within a couple of days. 

By my calculations if , and I expect the ban to be put on hold I would guess that we won’t appeal to very late into that 21 day period.

So let’s assume that we can trade in the window.

GK

Kepa, Willy & an academy product . Kepa clearly will still be number one , Wily never has let us down and there are several in the academy that are fast approaching maturity.

RB. Dave and Reece. Dave has been a fantastic servant but something has gone from his game and I just wonder if the articles I read about Reece and comments coming from Wigan do indeed point to him being close to a squad place first and sooner rather than later cementing a starting berth.

LB. Alonso doesn’t perform to a high enough level in a back 4.Emerson for me seems a better defender and has far more recovery speed. Aina has had a remarkable season in Italy and my comments re Reece could possibly be replicated in respect of Aina. 

CD. Rudiger, Christensen and Luiz . Zouma now seems to have fully recovered from his ACL and reading Everton fans comments on his performances. I wonder if he will be bought back. We know what we be getting from him and if, and yes a big if, he has developed I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he and Rudiger were tried as a starting pair.

Midfield. Georgino,Kante, RLC, and Barkley are no brainiers. I personally don’t rate Kovacic  so won’t be too disappointed if he is allowed to leave and Ampadu should be able to step up in this area as opposed to CD although he would provide a fairly decent cover in that area as well. We do however need to invest in this area.

Front 3. This is the priority area. Eden almost certainly will be allowed to leave, CHO is still a distance away from being fit . Pulisic is a really interesting addition but the time is fast approaching where neither Pedro or indeed Willian will be adequate. Higuain needs to loose weight to properly be judged but I can’t see that happening so personally I wouldn’t extend his stay. Giroud maybe we will take up the option of another year. Tammy should be given a chance the dilemma is that although he scores a fair old number at Championship level all I read suggests his misses far more than he scores the counter argument is that he gets into those positions through his exceptional movement. I am far from convinced that Bats is the answer. So here I think we need a top class striker and one maybe two widemen

Outs.

Zappacosta, Cahill, Alonso, Kennedy, Drink water, Morata, Moses, Kovatic, Higuain, Bats, Willian, Bakayoko and finally (hopefully not but I think he is going) Hazard,

 

 

Edited May 9, 20197 yr by terraloon

Right side could be devastating with Pulisic and Reece James linking up. 

Ideally Willian needs to go so we will need another winger. 

Left back and striker are the obvious positions needing new additions. 

Kovacic not that impressive tbh so I dont mind him going. 

But imo our biggest priority should be finding a good striker. 

Edited May 9, 20197 yr by zes

3 hours ago, zes said:

Right side could be devastating with Pulisic and Reece James linking up. 

Ideally Willian needs to go so we will need another winger. 

Left back and striker are the obvious positions needing new additions. 

Kovacic not that impressive tbh so I dont mind him going. 

But imo our biggest priority should be finding a good striker. 

The way Sarri speaks about new players coming in and the learning curve I don't see Reece playing anytime soon. You people have too rosy ideas of our youth.

11 hours ago, evissy said:

The way Sarri speaks about new players coming in and the learning curve I don't see Reece playing anytime soon. You people have too rosy ideas of our youth.

What I hope for is that RJ gets his opportunities because Sarri sees Dave needs to rest. I'd be happy if his progression in the team is similar to CHO this year. He gets his opportunity to prove himself and by the end of the year is rotated into the side. Emerson and Alonso rotate and the only reason Dave doesn't is because he is definitely superior to zappacosta. 

Line-up I'd like to see next season

                      Kepa

James   Rudiger   Koulibaly   Chllwell  

           Kante   Jorginho   RLC

            CHO    Jovic   Hazard

 

Second 11:

                   Willy

Azpi   Tamori   Ampadu   Emerson

   Barkley   Mount   Van Ginkel

    Pedro   Abrahams   Pusilic

Sarri prides himself on being a coach able to get the best out of the players he has, rather than just sign players.

So I see this as an excellent opportunity for him to walk the talk, decide who he wants for 2019/20 and then drill them extensively on his system in pre-season.

If the ban is upheld, then I think we won't have the option to keep Kovacic, but Higuain is OK, as he is already registered for a potentially longer loan than just this season ? Cahill obviously leaving, plus almost certainly Hazard.

So this would be the "state of the nation" for Sarri to work with  (first team and loanee names and positions as per Club website - plus I threw in 10 of the youth players who seem a bit better than the others in the  youth set-up, best potential, have trained with first team, been on loan, etc  etc) :

 

 

 

Edited May 13, 20197 yr by Sexyfootball

So what is the rumours prove to be true that Sarri goes to Juve and we accept the ban and cannot sign new players?

 

GK: Kepa, Big Willy, Green

Full backs: James, Azpi, Emerson, Alonso,

Center backs: Rudiger, Christensen, Luiz, Zouma

Central Midfield: Kante, Ampadu, Baka, RLC, Barkley, Mount

Wide Forwards: Pulisic, CHO, Willian, Pedro, Brown

Strikers: Batman, Abraham, Redan

 

Could prove interesting. Would assume Jorginho goes with Sarri or to City.

Big no to Zaha. Talented yes, but he doesn't come across as a player with a winning attitude. Sign me up for Richarlison or Jovic though.

Jovic is off to Real Madrid

I like Zaha. Think he has improved mentally this past two seasons.

If the club feel that this summer that they cannot get their top targets or really quality players, I would support them on serving the ban now and getting it done with. 

After 2017, I don’t want the squad to be added with mediocre players and would rather wait until next summer and go for it properly then. 

27 minutes ago, JM7 said:

If the club feel that this summer that they cannot get their top targets or really quality players, I would support them on serving the ban now and getting it done with. 

After 2017, I don’t want the squad to be added with mediocre players and would rather wait until next summer and go for it properly then. 

If we are struggling to attract players now, what confidence would you have in us getting the right players in 12 months time?

If the ban stays, i think top 4 would be extremely difficult next season. So we could be an even less attractive option. 

We need to strengthen from a position of strength in my opinion. We didnt do it last time we win thd league, we are about to lose our star player, but we have Champions League football to offer. 

Not to mention we mention we may never even serve a summer window ban at all if we appeal.

 

Imagine going into the season with Willian and Pedro as our main wingers. or even rotating squad players. 

Not expecting anything if the ban is kept this summer might be in for a worst season than 15/16

This ban situation really hurts us, we definitely need to improve our squad and make big signings if we really want to be a top team again.

First of all, I'd start with a few players that Chelsea must give them a chance to prove themselves.

Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham, Ola Aina - all of them could be useful for our squad especially if we will get banned officially.

Secondly, we should bring in a striker, winger, left back and CB.

Nicolas Pepe should be our target, Mahrez or Sane probably one of them will be looking to leave, we must go for one as well. 

GK: Kepa, Caballero, Bulka

LB: Alex Telles ( New signing), not sure who would I prefer Alonso or Emerson as a backup.

CB: Antonio Rudiger, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Milan Skriniar ( New signing ). Fikayo Tomori should be loaned to a PL club.

RB: Reece James, Ola Aina.

CM: Ngolo Kante, Jorginho, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Ross Barkley, Bakayoko, Ethan Ampadu.

Wingers: Callum Hodson Odoi, Christian Pulisic, Willian, Nicolas Pepe ( New signing), Riyad Mahrez/Lorenzo Insigne ( New signing).

Strikers: Michy Batshuayi, Tammy Abraham, Timo Werner ( New signing).

 

So basically this is what I'd like to see, chances of this are low, but I believe with this squad we can challenge for every competition.

Zaha and Perez are average players. Am a big fan of Raul Jimenez and Madison. I will be very happy if we can sign them. But Marina is not known for signing players that are an improvement on what we already have in the team. So there is more chance of us getting Zaha and Perez.

Cheeky bid for Mahrez? 

Will be too expensive even at 60m

Alex telles apparently has €40m release clause. So I’d bring him in.
 
I would love Jovic but I feel he’s Madrid bound so someone like him or Icardi as his time at Inter looks over and Madrid can only sign one of them.
 
Ruben Neves in CM would be a good signing or a Milinkovic-Savic type player.
 
I’d also like us to bring in another winger, such as Pepe, if we could get Sane that would be incredible as I think he’s a terrific player.
 
Obviously this is a dream signings list,  but all of them bar M-S & Sane are realistically achievable in my opinion.
 
I’d also get rid of the deadwood and some fringe like Zappacosta, Willian, Drinkwater etc and integrate some of the youth!

Nevez will be an incredible signing, he can pick a pass from deep and can shoot from distance. Sarri won't like us to sign someone that can easily displace Jorginho!

I agree he does seem like a hassle but we need a bit of steel and a nasty bastard in the team, I feel. We’re far too nice and I don’t think there’s anyone in our squad who would say boo to a ghost.

This post just made my day.[emoji16][emoji16][emoji16] It's funny but true. After what happened in the Carabao cup final with Kepa, I don't think Sarri will want us to sign a player like Icardi.

So what is the rumours prove to be true that Sarri goes to Juve and we accept the ban and cannot sign new players?
 
GK: Kepa, Big Willy, Green
Full backs: James, Azpi, Emerson, Alonso,
Center backs: Rudiger, Christensen, Luiz, Zouma
Central Midfield: Kante, Ampadu, Baka, RLC, Barkley, Mount
Wide Forwards: Pulisic, CHO, Willian, Pedro, Brown
Strikers: Batman, Abraham, Redan
 
Could prove interesting. Would assume Jorginho goes with Sarri or to City.

I don't think Azpilicueta will be good enough to play as a full back next season. I will swap him for Aina in the full back list and include him in center back over Zouma.

I like Zaha. Think he has improved mentally this past two seasons.

Too arrogant and his end product isn't good for a top 4 team. I will rather go for Athletico Madrid's Correa.

1 hour ago, IliyaKrostin said:

This ban situation really hurts us, we definitely need to improve our squad and make big signings if we really want to be a top team again.

First of all, I'd start with a few players that Chelsea must give them a chance to prove themselves.

Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham, Ola Aina - all of them could be useful for our squad especially if we will get banned officially.

Secondly, we should bring in a striker, winger, left back and CB.

Nicolas Pepe should be our target, Mahrez or Sane probably one of them will be looking to leave, we must go for one as well. 

GK: Kepa, Caballero, Bulka

LB: Alex Telles ( New signing), not sure who would I prefer Alonso or Emerson as a backup.

CB: Antonio Rudiger, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Milan Skriniar ( New signing ). Fikayo Tomori should be loaned to a PL club.

RB: Reece James, Ola Aina.

CM: Ngolo Kante, Jorginho, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Ross Barkley, Bakayoko, Ethan Ampadu.

Wingers: Callum Hodson Odoi, Christian Pulisic, Willian, Nicolas Pepe ( New signing), Riyad Mahrez/Lorenzo Insigne ( New signing).

Strikers: Michy Batshuayi, Tammy Abraham, Timo Werner ( New signing).

 

So basically this is what I'd like to see, chances of this are low, but I believe with this squad we can challenge for every competition.

Is Timo Werner still a good striker? The hype around him died down considerably?

1 hour ago, IliyaKrostin said:

This ban situation really hurts us, we definitely need to improve our squad and make big signings if we really want to be a top team again.

First of all, I'd start with a few players that Chelsea must give them a chance to prove themselves.

Mason Mount, Reece James, Tammy Abraham, Ola Aina - all of them could be useful for our squad especially if we will get banned officially.

Secondly, we should bring in a striker, winger, left back and CB.

Nicolas Pepe should be our target, Mahrez or Sane probably one of them will be looking to leave, we must go for one as well. 

GK: Kepa, Caballero, Bulka

LB: Alex Telles ( New signing), not sure who would I prefer Alonso or Emerson as a backup.

CB: Antonio Rudiger, Azpilicueta, David Luiz, Milan Skriniar ( New signing ). Fikayo Tomori should be loaned to a PL club.

RB: Reece James, Ola Aina.

CM: Ngolo Kante, Jorginho, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Mason Mount, Ross Barkley, Bakayoko, Ethan Ampadu.

Wingers: Callum Hodson Odoi, Christian Pulisic, Willian, Nicolas Pepe ( New signing), Riyad Mahrez/Lorenzo Insigne ( New signing).

Strikers: Michy Batshuayi, Tammy Abraham, Timo Werner ( New signing).

 

So basically this is what I'd like to see, chances of this are low, but I believe with this squad we can challenge for every competition.

Skriniar is a great player, but he just signed a new deal literally a couple days ago.  He’s probably not looking to leave and would be ridiculously expensive.  He’s the quality of player we need to be looking at though for sure.