The rebuilding efforts at Chelsea are continuing apace ahead of next season, defined by the signing of Brazilian talent Oscar.
The 20-year-old starlet is currently impressing for Brazil in the Olympic competition, and is part of a team which are hot favourites to clinch a gold medal.
The next question is where he will fit into the Chelsea side, not only that, but who will be the club's first choice central pairing?
Chelsea are expected to line up in a 4-2-3-1 formation with Torres as the lone frontman, and Hazard, Mata, and Marin in behind.
At least that's how it looks at present; the signing of a new striker or a right winger could further complicate matters, but it is a squad game of course.
Nowhere is more illustrative of this than in central midfield. The above headline of 'Oscar, Lampard, Ramires, Mikel, Romeu and Meireles' lays out Roberto di Matteo's options, with six midfielders competing for six spots.
After a £25 million outlay you would imagine Oscar would be one of the first names in the Chelsea starting line-up, and you'd be right, but the chances of the Brazilian playing 40 + games in his first season in English football is remote.
Frank Lampard, a once ever-present, is not ready to give up just yet, and will hope improve with age and experience. Above everybody else he perhaps has the most to prove, to show he still belongs, and is not ready to chase the cash abroad with a big money move to the MLS just yet.
Ramires was Chelsea's most consistent midfielder last season, and will feel he has earned a spot. His chip against Barcelona will live long in the memory of supporters. A Brazilian partnership of Ramires-Oscar may just be the top choice of many supporters, and the players have differing attributes which should complement each other well.
Raul Meireles was one of Chelsea's starters against AC Milan in their recent friendly, and the Portuguese midfielder showed at times last season just how useful he can be at chipping in with important goals. Whether he will be in any fans first choice pairing is another matter.
Mikel and Romeu are two players who played well at differing parts of the season. Romeu started it well, but faded, while Mikel started poorly but improved at the crucial time of the season. excellent against Barcelona.
We are interested to know your first choice pairing. Here is a poll with all six - and you may make two selections before casting your vote.
Pick your first choice midfield pairing
0%0%0%0%0%0%image: © Ben Sutherland
Dan Coombs
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Dan Coombs is a writer who is keen to embrace the internet revolution. He first started writing for us in June 2011 and commenced his new role as Sports Editor in February 2012.
As a trained journalist he has met famous faces from Mr T to Boris Johnson. He once featured in an England World Cup music video too, but it did not make the charts.
He grew up wanting to be a Formula 1 driver, but it looks like this dream has passed him by. Instead, he hopes you enjoy reading his writing on our site, as we seek to debate the day's sporting hot topics.
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