Official Chelsea FC Thread

[J-Mezzy]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFztsbGZAe8#t=80[/youtube]

Don't know if he's coming or not, but here's a nice scout video for those of you that haven't seen much of him.

[treiz]

So what do you guys think our plans are for this January?

Bertrand Traore officially signed a couple of days ago, and immediately loaned out to Vitesse which is not surprising. Gael Kakuta and Sam Hutchinson has just been called back by Mourinho too

Preferably I'd like to stand pat and just roll with what we have, unless we end up selling someone then get somebody in, more likely if we do end up selling Mata get Piazon back in since we'll already have Schurrle and De Bruyne as back-ups and let Piazon play in the cup games, but I doubt Mourinho would like to sell.

But if Mourinho really likes Higuain which I doubt due to his preference of Benzema over Higuain during his RM tenure, I could see a swap of Mata for Higuain plus cash/talented youth player, let Mata play with Rafa again and we get a good striker plus extra. I think this could be ideal for all parties. But like many said the £50 million is an stupid amount of money for him, plus he just moved there which makes any movement unlikely.

[J-Mezzy]

Yeah the 50 million number must be made up. Mou didn't even love Higuain at Madrid, why go all out for him now?

I don't think we bring a striker although we need one. I also like the idea of swapping Mata for a top striker if possible

[treiz]

I think that's our best option of landing a top striker without having to pay huge amounts of money. His value is still really high and a lot of clubs are interested. I think if Mourinho really wants that striker he should cash in Mata now for it, the problem is there isn't any top strikers that are available. Unless Cavani becomes available I can't see a straight swap, we would have to get extra compensation on top of Mata which could be a deal breaker.

Also, is Guarin coming this January or in the summer? Think it would make sense for him to come now

[J-Mezzy]

All rumors indicate this January. As far as strikers go, I hear rumblings in Colombia that Falcao is unhappy at Monaco. A swap with Mata there would make sense if true. Doubt it though.

[treiz]

That would be highly ideal but unlikely, considering that he'll be eligible for the CL

Just been reading up on Guarin and he's literally the perfect guy for our midfield system, looking forward to seeing him play. Any major drawbacks with him?

Apparently, we want £25 million for De Bruyne too. Can see it because of his potential but I think he'll be gone for £20 million. I think the highest bid so far has been £18 million

[J-Mezzy]

That would be highly ideal but unlikely, considering that he'll be eligible for the CL

Just been reading up on Guarin and he's literally the perfect guy for our midfield system, looking forward to seeing him play. Any major drawbacks with him?

Apparently, we want £25 million for De Bruyne too. Can see it because of his potential but I think he'll be gone for £20 million. I think the highest bid so far has been £18 million

Yeah Falcao would make sense since he's CL eligible. Guarin ' s main issues prior to this season have always been lack of focus and consistency. He's been much better this year. He's a talented guy but he has to buy in to what the coach is doing to be successful. He can be a brilliant signing if Mou can get him to be tactically disciplined which Inter coach was able to do. He would be the perfect rotation guy since he can pretty much play any midfield position and is CL eligible.

[5DOM]

Mourinho ruled out a January striker signing. It's a "100% no".

I think most that will happen is KdB heading out and Guarin coming in.

[treiz]

I'm pleased with the overall signing then, if Guarin's main flaw is focus, consistency and motivation then I think we can all agree that shouldn't be a problem for Mourinho since those are things he can clearly coach and embed into Guarin, if Jose can get Mikel to run about for 90 minutes then I think anything is possible. I really like his skill sets and is perfect for our midfield system. Could be a really good buy for us.

I agree 5DOM, I'd prefer to stand pat and roll with what we have now. Unless a ludicrous bid goes in for Mata and by ludicrous I mean a top striker coming this way then I think we won't be making much noise this January

[J-Mezzy]

As a Colombia fan, I would be thrilled to see him join us because like you said, if anyone can get the best out of the guy, it's Mourinho.

Can we really compete with City with our current striker line up? I agree that we shouldn't go all out for a str7, but it is so frustrating to see how poor our strikers can be.

[treiz]

Patrick Bamford loaned to Derby until the end of the season

Had a really good 4 months for MK Dons in League 1, believed he scored close to 20 goals in 25+ appearances, hope he can continue on in the Championship

[J-Mezzy]

Any chance we go after Mario Mandzukic if Bayern puts him on the market?

[5DOM]

I guess it's possible, but if we are not going after Rooney or Costa, I would rather roll dice with Lukaku

[J-Mezzy]

Are you guys that sold on Costa? He's had a bunch of mediocre seasons prior to exploding this season. I'm still not sure I would pay the 40 + Atletico will want for him.

[treiz]

Not for that price, still would prefer to gamble on Lukaku next year but for me if we were to buy it's either Rooney, Cavani or Falcao. So basically that means we're not buying a striker this window

[treiz]

Debut for Lewis Baker today, huge prospect

[Pure_Basketball]

Hey guys Chelsea fan that's never really bothered to post in the soccer part of realgm before.

Quick background for me. I'm Australian, 20 years old, never really followed soccer too much until I started playing FIFA 10 a lot with some mates a few years ago, didn't really follow anyone but called myself a Liverpool fan. Got to about Fifa11 or Fifa12 and started playing a lot of Fifa and started to favor Chelsea and Hazard became my favourite player. So decided to make the switch, I've watched every Chelsea game of the 13-14 season, and actually quiet a lot of other games when they're on. So my knowledge of the game is still quite new but I'm starting to develop more of an understanding for more and more players as I watch more games around the league. I'm becoming as passionate for Chelsea as I am for Miami which I'm happy about because it gives me another sport to follow religiously.

[J-Mezzy]

Welcome aboard mate. This season will be a fun ride so enjoy. Hazard is indeed an awesome player.

[lukekarts]

I don't profess to be an expert but for the past few years - well, all but the very beginning under Abramovich, actually, I've been a little confused by our striker situation.

When Abramovich purchased the team, we had one of the best strike partnerships in the league - Hasselbaink, Gudjohnsen and Zola. I understand the circumstances under which Zola left, but for the most part our front duo was tried and tested albeit ageing. They would need to be replaced and the Crespo and Mutu signings both made sense at the time, but I was a little dubious by how it would all fit. Crespo did OK, Mutu ruined his career off the pitch. Not really the club's fault.

Drogba the following season made perfect sense, but Kezman was an (inexpensive) joke. Verdict at this point was pretty good actually.

And then came Shevchenko. £40m for a 29 year old who was clearly past his best and I just couldn't fathom it. Kalou was a prospect which I'll forgive - he cost very little.

A season later we again bought two past its. Anelka (who actually did OK, but still was not a clinical striker or a regular first choice) and Pizarro, also past his best but at least he was free. Drogba continued to save the day.

I'll never understand the Torres situation. £50m was too much for a player who had clearly suffered injuries that had dented both his ability and his confidence. It was clear he was no longer a 20 goal per season striker when we purchased him.

Sturridge was clinical when he played. Sure, he was wasteful in possession and not the complete product but he almost always scored when the opportunity arose and he had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. Not his fault he was played out wide, and now he's thriving under Rodgers.

Lukaku shows similar strengths and flaws and yet whilst we continue to see him flourish for Everton, we're sat with a miserable strikeforce trio and a manager that continues to bemoan our lack of options up front, similar to Benitez, Di Matteo and Ancelotti before him.

Drogba panned out, but no striker purchased afterwards has really had a significant impact and its not as if there haven't been acquisitions into the Premier League that we've been linked with - Aguero perhaps being the most notable.

For a club of our supposed stature we seem to by strikers past their best or not give the young ones a chance at all - and from all parts of the club that's a big failure.

And I'd like to give Mourinho and the club a slap round the face. The answers are both currently playing in Liverpool.

Sure there'd be mistakes and frustration but there'd be no lack of goals either.

[5DOM]

Sturridge was a mistake, but I don't have a problem with Lukaku playing for Everton this season. It's true that he's already more effective than all our strikers combined, but he's still very raw, and his link-up play and work rate are nowhere near Eto'o's level or even Torres' at this point of his career. I think at least theoretically it makes sense to have a veteran striker in front of very young attacking midfielders. Yes, we should have spent Torres money on Aguero and maybe gone after a more realistic target than Rooney this offseason, but this isn't the worst situation to be in. Players that matter like Lukaku, Hazard and Oscar are all developing nicely, and we have a tonne of top prospects playing all over Europe.

We'll see what happens in summer. I'm sure Eto'o and Ba won't be there, and perhaps even Torres. This season was always going to be difficult, but future's still bright.