Karan

He's always welcome at Chelsea. He'd be the perfect professional for the youth team to leearn from.

Finally Drogba gets his due. He has always been an important part of the team for Jose not because of what he does upfront but also for his contribution to team spirit. Hope Drogba does well in the ACN and then comes back motivated and charged up for the rest of the season.

quote:Originally posted by duff17quote:Originally posted by tominho-Ibrahim Affelay, PSV id="quote"> id="quote"> What position does this guy play? I've never even seen him on Football Manager! id="quote"> id="quote">I think he is a midfielder. He's made a CL appearance this season. I feel that Kuijt is a potential target for next season (in case Crespo leaves). That he is coveted by Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal is no secret. (Now we are in a battle with Arsenal for Torres as well). I think Arnesen's network will show its true scouting colours next season. Probably in the summer, as Tominho said, we will see some Dutch youngsters.

I would recognize Zola's value more, not because I'm a Chelsea supporter, but because of his contribution in a team which really was most of the time in transition. There were good players at Chelsea squad. But our squad wasnt in the same class as a Man Utd at that point in time (pains me to say this). Cantona on the other hand was playing in a team which was strong, had greater financial resources and had a settled managerial team. But still Cantona was a great premiership player. If Zola was playing in our current squad we would have seen an even more dangerous and dynamic Zola ripping apart premiership defences.

quote:Originally posted by Dan MurphyThe theory behind bringing in Arnesen was not to sign 18 year old players for £5m or so, but to pick them up younger and to develop them in our own academy and not have to pay inflated fees. Arnesen has a great track record at spotting talent from a young age and I expect we won't really see the benefits for another 4 or 5 years. id="quote"> id="quote">Good point and agree with you totally. Because nowadays its seems that the breakthrough age for a very talented player (into the first team) is probably 17-18 years. So its better to scout very young and develop them. Arnesen's scouting network is probably one of the best worldwide (eg. Ronaldo, our very own Guddy, Robben and others). Besides that, Arnesen's role at Spurs was that of a Football Director. He's the guy who probably is on look for players to fill first team and squad places. Since Spurs were looking at young British players to develop thats why he signed those 34 (I think thats the number) players last season. At Chelsea his role is of Youth Development. Its not that he's been slow react. He's setting up a strong structure which will be the foundation of our club for years to come. Probably, we might see some new youngsters join our academy in the summer.

quote:Originally posted by SebWow another Chelsea fan in the UAE? Where abouts are you? And yeah I tought about stalking them for a bit but decided I might get arrested so... id="quote"> id="quote">I'm in Dubai at the moment.

If their coming for shopping then its probably the wrong time. However at the moment though the weather here is fantastic.