17 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Or both get ruined and we get nothing out of it 

No concerns here - both would miss the target.  Be our luck they'd be some dodgy ricochet. 

Di Marzio saying we’ve made an offer!

If buying this chap enables us to move on a number of players due to his versatility I would say it could be good business.

Say for example getting him allows us to move on Alonso, Emerson and Zappacosta.

If we could double up with Reece James (from RCB) and Hakimi (RWB) on the right hand side I think that would give any team team a lot of trouble.

I believe James at RCB is a move Tuchel wants to do to try an overwhelm the teams that decide to sit deep. As James got a lot of quality offensively as well.

Emerson and Christensen rumoured to be part of the deal, not happy about that if true, he's finally playing well for us and probably one of our better CBs right now.

12 minutes ago, sonic90 said:

Emerson and Christensen rumoured to be part of the deal, not happy about that if true, he's finally playing well for us and probably one of our better CBs right now.

It’s “or” not “and”, but I agree won’t be swapping Christensen 

Sounds like this one is developing.

So is he replacing CHO, Reece or Azpilicueta? 

9 minutes ago, Sindre said:

Sounds like this one is developing.

I like your optimism but Sky is one of the worst if they are not quoting a reputable source. Here is DiMarzio who is reputable. 

You should also follow Matt Law and especially Fabritzio Romano who is brilliant. He has great contacts in clubs to know what is going on. 

 

From yesterday. 

Young, lightning speed, excellent with both feet and have been immense at RWB for Dortmund & Inter.

Think there is a lot to like about this deal.

If 3atb is the way we're heading he's perfect bordering on too good to be true.

The way I see it this is good news. Like a few have already mentioned this isn't a move to replace James, on the contrary this seems like he's beeing brought in to play alongside James on the right. 

We've been longing for elite rotation for years now, especially on the right and finally the club are backing our coach. This is akin to when Conte wanted Alex Sandro alongside Marco Alonso we would have two elite options for wingback. 

With Cesar getting older I see James getting more play at RCB this means we need another exceptional athlete to play RWB for us. Hakimi is proven in both the Bundesliga and Serie A. He's played under Conte and won the league and if Tuchel wants him I'm all for it. Long term for £50m I think this is a good deal for us. 

Of the three positions mentioned Tuchel wants signings I believe they are midfield, right wing back and striker. It's nice to see we're already making a move so early on rather than waiting til the end. If the club has learned anything from last summer, it's get your targets early and let them integrate into the squad.

Having James, Cesar and Hakimi covering our right side for the mid term to long term (until Cesar leaves) sounds good to me. Also it gives us a clue as to what shape we'll most likely see next season, highly likely 3atb remains a common feature if not every game expect to see it fairly frequently.

No disputing he’s world class at RWB but if we change formation or managers (yes, I know - but we’re Chelsea) does he still fit? 
 

I’m not overly keen on this. I feel like a striker (Haaland) and a proper DM (Rice) should be the clubs priorities at the moment.

 

If we want to move on Alonso & Emerson and need cover for LB/LWB - we should be looking at Josh Doig at Hibs - YPOTY in Scotland and only 18 with the club looking for about £5m, showing more promise than Andy Robertson showed at that age and I reckon his ceiling is higher. Chilwell is locked down as starter anyway and he’s no particularly injury prone!

 

Still, if it doesn’t interfere with Haaland or Rice - great!

4 minutes ago, EdinburghBlue said:

No disputing he’s world class at RWB but if we change formation or managers (yes, I know - but we’re Chelsea) does he still fit? 
 

I’m not overly keen on this. I feel like a striker (Haaland) and a proper DM (Rice) should be the clubs priorities at the moment.

 

If we want to move on Alonso & Emerson and need cover for LB/LWB - we should be looking at Josh Doig at Hibs - YPOTY in Scotland and only 18 with the club looking for about £5m, showing more promise than Andy Robertson showed at that age and I reckon his ceiling is higher. Chilwell is locked down as starter anyway and he’s no particularly injury prone!

 

Still, if it doesn’t interfere with Haaland or Rice - great!

Probably moving on Hakimi 1st because of PSG. 

Great player, and if Tuchel wants him, then im backing the manager. From my point of view, I dont think he is particularly needed, however he is a fantastic option for right and left wing back. 

 

Loads of clips of him on the left there. I think he would be an asset to any squad. Just hope it is to play infront of James, rather than instead of. 

Another interesting factor here is that Inter Milan are in desperate need of 80 million euros before June 30th. So if we up our bid a littlebit it could be done soon I assume.

15 goals/assists in 29 starts in Serie A last season.

 

He would be a class addition for sure!  Big money but I think it would be well worth it if it doesn't effect our other major plans.  IF we went big this transfer period and signed Haaland and Rice (and possibly another CB), for example, Hakimi would be the cherry on top!

Couple of reservations about this.

For one Dave is a favorite of TT so I dont see him missing many games, and you dont spend that amount of money on a specialist rwb to not play him most games. So I personally believe it will impact Reece and his game time.

Secondly, as Edinburgh Blue pointed out, he is a specialist wingback, no real use as a right back. A bit like Alonso, another we could be stuck with who does not play if we have a poor season, TT gets sacked and we get a new 433 manager.

7 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Couple of reservations about this.

For one Dave is a favorite of TT so I dont see him missing many games, and you dont spend that amount of money on a specialist rwb to not play him most games. So I personally believe it will impact Reece and his game time.

Secondly, as Edinburgh Blue pointed out, he is a specialist wingback, no real use as a right back. A bit like Alonso, another we could be stuck with who does not play if we have a poor season, TT gets sacked and we get a new 433 manager.

You say that yet who was the one that was hauled off when we were chasing games?

Azpi can't last forever, a succession plan has to start sometime and now is as good a time as any.

24 minutes ago, Argo said:

Azpi can't last forever, a succession plan has to start sometime and now is as good a time as any.

This tbh.  Don't get me wrong, I love Azpi and he puts in every game he plays for us and he's been one of our best buys ever considering the price we paid for.  What he's done for us is absolutely amazing but he's 31 now, almost 32, and we need to have a plan in place.  He'll still play as it's going to be a huge season but we'll also need depth as well.  James and Hakimi are 21 and 22 and we could get ten years out of them both compared to just another two or three out of Azpi with his behind him at that point.

31 minutes ago, Argo said:

You say that yet who was the one that was hauled off when we were chasing games?

Azpi can't last forever, a succession plan has to start sometime and now is as good a time as any.

Yes, that is right, but I don't think that this fact invalidates @axman2526's comments. Azpi is not really a wingback, is he? Can Hakimi play as a FB? If not, we only have James there for cover. I guess Axman is worried that we are getting a specialist and not necessarily someone that could be played on a back 4.

41 minutes ago, Argo said:

You say that yet who was the one that was hauled off when we were chasing games?

Azpi can't last forever, a succession plan has to start sometime and now is as good a time as any.

 

3 minutes ago, RMH said:

Yes, that is right, but I don't think that this fact invalidates @axman2526's comments. Azpi is not really a wingback, is he? Can Hakimi play as a FB? If not, we only have James there for cover. I guess Axman is worried that we are getting a specialist and not necessarily someone that could be played on a back 4.

@RMH answered it for me. 

Basically Dave is a defenders defender who can play anywhere in the back line and play it really well. You plan on succeeding him with a specialist right wing back who does not defend that well according to many who have seen him?

3 minutes ago, axman2526 said:

Basically Dave is a defenders defender who can play anywhere in the back line and play it really well. You plan on succeeding him with a specialist right wing back who does not defend that well according to many who have seen him?

Azpi wouldn't leave. He'd be a rotation option and role player for certain games I assume.

But there have been some signs of Azpi losing a yard or two over the last two seasons. We once got stung by holding on to Ivanovic too long when he was at a similar ago to current Azpi.
Hakimi may be a "specialist" attacker but we already got Reece James and Azpi who you can consider allrounders so I don't see the problem.