Rousseau

Do we actually need to sign another CB now? We have Goldson, Souttar, Helander, Balogun, Katic (?), along with King and Mayo. Bassey can also cover. I would leave it as is, and put the money into our front line.

Is @Tannochsidebear going to be okay... ?

Feels like a new signing.

I know we've rightly questioned his injury record, but I think this is a good signing. He has consistently been one of the best performers in the league, and he's still at a good age. Being a Scot, he'll understand the club, too. Stylistically he fits, being a big powerful lad that can play a bit and likes to dribble with the ball. Moreover, as a pre-contract signing, it's not costing a lot - if injury comes back to haunt his time here. Solid, sensible signing.

We were short up front with Itten, so I see the signing of strikers/forwards as being a priority this window. That's a good move for Itten. YB are a big side in Switzerland; they're expected to win trophies and push on in Europe. Like I've said elsewhere, that's a similar level to ourselves, give or take. It suggests that Itten had the calibre, but his style just hasn't suited us. It happens, quite often. I wish him well. He tried. Farewell, Ced the Ted!

I could not be less interested. That's not true - I would like to see Scotland fail to qualify. I don't know why.

Lukaku back to Inter? Probably a good move if Chelsea can recoup a decent amount.

This is Player of the Year, not Player of the Two-Months-when-they-found-form.

There are reports that QPR are about to appoint Michael Beale as their new manager. Gerrard is f*cked.

I went with Tavernier, just for consistency. My other contenders would be Bassey and Lundstram, but they did not start the season well. Bassey's indifferent start was mainly down to taking a little while to get used to playing at CB; while Lundstram took a while to find his best position - indeed, some were wanting rid of him in January! In the same way, Aribo started exceptionally well (easily PotY form), but faded after AFCON, unfortunately. (So did Salah, incidentally... ) I think it would be unfair to give it to those that have only produced for a few months, over Tavernier, who has produced throughout.

Didn't we pay £7M for Hagi? I wouldn't take that. He's only 23. Keep him for another year or two, just when he's entering his peak, then sell.

I think Chelsea will be fine. The new owners sound like they run things well. I suspect it will be similar to the Liverpool owners.

That's a decent move. Young Boys should be a decent Europa League side, maybe even ahead of us a little. It suggests that he has something about him. Clearly, it's not worked for him here, though, for whatever reason. He reminds me of Lukaku. Lukaku looks like a target man, but he's not. His hold-up play is atrocious. He prefers running with the ball, which he was able to do at Inter - because Conte recognised that and set them up to, not so much counter, but play into space. I think that's like Itten, which is where I believe he scored most of his goals for St Gallen.

Did we just win the Champions League?

Great!

I'm looking forward to this one. I would like to see Forest back in the PL.

Yes, you're right. No wonder we were able to get him.

I thought it was ending anyway?

Fit.

Stewart reminds me of Simms... #JustSayin

I am sympathetic to @the gunslinger's general point that we shouldn't be building teams with loans. He just takes it too far by saying all loans are trash. Sometimes they're needed; sometimes they're useful.

It's also the case that different types of loans are needed at different times. Ojo and Ejaria were needed at that stage in the journey, when we couldn't quite go out and sign players to win championships; we needed a step in between. Of course, they were not title-winning players, but they played a lot of games and moved us forward. You can argue that they were successful. We don't need those types of loans any more. We're at the stage where we need to build title-winning teams, capable of competing in Europe. Another type would be when we need to plug a gap in the squad, like with Diallo. We were short out wide, but we're not able to get someone in permanently, so you plug the gap with a loan. And then you have the try-before-you-buy types, like Sands; a loan with an option to buy. As @ranger_syntax said above, it is a successful loan even if you realise they are not good enough, like Coulibaly.

Wasn't Defoe a loan? Ianis Hagi was a loan. Ryan Kent was a loan.