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Transfers - Gossip Shop: Chelsea lure Ancelotti

Eurosport - Fri, 17 Apr 19:38:00 2009

War chests may invoke medieval images of bejewelled coffers, dripping with shiny booty and overflowing with coins, but they can also be quite handy in the modern day world of football.

FOOTBALL Carlo Ancelotti Milan - 0

Managers love nothing more than stamping their authority on a squad by splashing cash from a big metaphorical container on new players during the transfer window.

And considering it is no secret that Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has a few bob to spare, even during these most crunchy of financial times, it comes as no surprise to hear that the Russian billionaire has prepared a huge £50 million box of treasures.

According to The Daily Telegraph, the sum is part of a deal that has been put together in a bid to entice Carlo Ancelotti to Stamford Bridge, once Guus Hiddink leaves at the end of the season.

Chelsea have apparently already agreed a deal with Milan to take Ancelotti to West London after dangling a huge carrot - in the form of the sizeable initial transfer budget - in front of the Italian..

The report claims that Ancelotti greedily gobbled it down and has already made a summer hit list of players he wants to jazz up his new squad.

Who are they?

Well, how about Emmanuel Adebayor, Yuri Zhirkov and Carlos Tevez for starters?

Ancelotti is a big fan of Arsenal striker Adebayor, whom he tried to sign for Milan last year before the Togo hitman opted to pen a new deal at the Emirates.

CSKA wing-back Zhirkov has already appeared on Chelsea's radar, what with Abramovich and Hiddink's connections with Russia, and Ancelotti is also thought to be an admirer.

And Tevez - who, despite starting three of Manchester United 's last four Premier League games, still cannot class himself as first choice - has yet to sign a permanent deal with the Old Trafford club, a situation Chelsea are hoping to exploit.

While the figures do not quite match up - Adebayor is valued at £20m, Zhirkov at £15 and Tevez at more than £20m - if nothing more, the move shows Abramovich's intention to continue bankrolling Chelsea's activity on the transfer market, despite a turbulent year off the field.

But the Blues are bound to face competition, with Tevez in particular set to prompt a bidding war should he not stay at Old Trafford beyond his current lease agreement.

Real Madrid are also thought to be keeping track of the Argentina striker's situation, as are Serie A duo Juventus and Internazionale, and moneybags Manchester City.

In other wheelings and dealings, West Ham boss Gianfranco Zola is keen to secure the future of Mathew Upson at Upton Park. And the little Italian would be well within his rights to feel confident after having already tied down nine others of this first team squad to new deals.

Indeed, Zola's mission to hang on to as many of his current squad could well prove shrewd as The Guardian reports that the club is on the verge of being taken over by a consortium of international banks.

Staumur, the bank who backed Bjogolfur Gudmundsson's takeover of the Hammers in 2006, was nationalised last month in the wake of Iceland's financial meltdown and is now set to be taken over.

That would mean a new board at Upton Park and, more pertinently for this column, no funds for Zola to spend on new players this summer.

Across town at Fulham, Roy Hodgson has insisted Brede Hangeland is close to penning a new deal, despite interest from Arsenal while in the Midlands, Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill is lining up a £6m bid for Leeds youngster Fabian Delph .

And finally, down to the Championship where QPR - not a club to sell themselves short these days - have targeted none other than Brazilian legend Romario as Paulo Sousa's replacement in the Loftus Road hotseat.

The former Barcelona ace, who famously might, or might not, have scored 1,000 goals as a player, is expected to face stiff competition for the job from Alan Pardew.

Eurosport

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  1. purple I'll go in order, yes stability at manager­ level. thats a given. all clubs need that. but fans­ call for managers heads then its hard not to give them­ what they want as thats what its about.

    People forget­ that scolari had the team looking the best team on the­ planet for a wee bit, but he wasnt allowed to buy­ players he wanted so with the way he managed he needed­ another option which he wasnt allowed to buy and then­ chelsea got bad injuries to key players. ego's and­ all that talk is nothing but stupid resons people give.­ if that was true then these players would never play­ good would they? wasnt a single problem in controlling­ players or motivation. they hit a bad spell and that­ was it.

    the talk of cech is nonsense, he got abused­ for his game against liverpool even though he wasnt at­ fault for any goal. free kick was just clever. looked­ nervous with crosses but almost all his punches got­ distance. and 1 game doesnt make him a bad keeper.­ easily still best in the league. his problem mid season­ was his eyesight which he got fixed. and chelsea­ allowed cudicini to leave out of respect they didnt­ want rid of him.

    they sold bridge because they god a­ good offer, wanted to trim the squad and had ferreira­ who played the position international level. it's­ not chelsea's fault he got season ending injury.­ you cant keep 3 players in every position and have­ happy players and a workable squad. the fact cole is­ missing for barca game is simply bad luck.

    malouda­ looked great last season at start then got injured,­ never looked the same afterwards and sudenly was­ terrible. he then got played as a forward which didnt­ suit his game now under hiddink he is playing slightly­ differentand more suited towards his game and with­ getting more starts looking the part again in recent­ times

    id rather have drogba than adebayor anyday and­ tevez isnt wanted or needed. plus these stories arent­ true.

    From yip, on Fri 17 Apr 10:28PM

  2. ok point taken, i miss read the article, but Ancelotti­ is only getting the job because of his european success­ with Milan, dont mean he will get it with Chelsea and­ not in the first year in charge, wont supprise me if­ the players revolt against him like the did against­ Phil Scolari which if i was the owner of the club, i­ would have handed out massive fines to the ring leaders­ and transfer listed them, Roman acts like a spoilt kid,­ if it dont work straight away he wants shut, if someone­ disagrees with him (Jose) he gets shut, if he see's­ something he wants despite everyone telling him its not­ a good idea (Shevchenko) he does it anyway.

    From Scott, on Fri 17 Apr 10:25PM

  3. scott m - I would say the 50million is for the purchase­ of new players rather than the manager's salary. ­ It's still massive money though. If, for example,­ the new manager seels Drogba for £15million and buys­ Adebayor for £25million, he'll still have 80% of­ his 'war chest' intact. GK, CB, LB & LW­ should be top priorities at Chelsea. And squad players­ rather than top-of-the-range 1st-teamers

    From purple_hatstand, on Fri 17 Apr 10:20PM

  4. scott m, he's not paying 50 mil for the manager.­ read before you comment

    From yip, on Fri 17 Apr 10:15PM

  5. Got to agree with "ronaldiniwho, on Fri 17 Apr­ 2:40" that the Brianlombe is deffo a BRIAN &­ not a BRAIN !!! Was he trying to write in Text style ?­ or what, perhaps he thinks he's a­ "GANSTA" ?

    From First L, on Fri 17 Apr 10:12PM

  6. scott s - I'm genuinely interested in your­ opinions.

    From purple_hatstand, on Fri 17 Apr 10:04PM
  7. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    its just a game to Roman, he dont have a clue about­ players and football. chasing the likes of David­ Trezeguet just goes to show how bad his choices are.­ 50mil for a manager is unbeleivable, who in there right­ mind pays that much for a manager that has not won­ anything for the last few years and is not used to the­ demands of the English Prem. Serie A has nothing on­ English football, its slow and boring, over here its­ fast paced and the slightest mistake will end you. I­ cant see him doing much better than big phil, Roman­ needs to wise up big time.

    From Scott, on Fri 17 Apr 10:03PM

  8. With Judy Finnegan leaving the Richard and Judy show,­ maybe she would be the ideal candidate for­ Chelsea's next manager.

    From Leonard Nimoy, on Fri 17 Apr 9:59PM

  9. There is NO WAY Arsenal and Man Utd are going to sell­ those players to Chelsea!
    And why the hell would­ Chelsea want Man Utds reserve striker?
    How are we­ going to win anything if we take a washed up AC coach­ and the competitions left-overs.
    What Chelsea need­ right now is Rikard or Mancini or Zola

    From Dean Stam, on Fri 17 Apr 9:57PM

  10. purple_hatstand, you came across almost clever yet you­ basically have looked from the outside and what has­ been said and simply passed opinion that everyone that­ knows nothing about chelsea seem to think.

    I hear the­ same from everyone all the time and yet although it has­ some sense it basically aint true.

    I can go into­ everything you said and give resons for what you said­ is wrong but I dont have the energy

    From yip, on Fri 17 Apr 9:51PM

  11. What Chelsea really need is a prolonged period of­ stability at management level combined with a complete­ restructuring of the club from the bottom up. I’m­ serious. The money has killed the club imo. This is­ the last season for the mostly-Mourinho-assembled­ squad; especially if they don’t win the CL – the FA Cup­ is not enough for Abramovich – and therein lies the­ problem (and its not Chelsea’s alone). Moneybags­ owners with scant knowledge of the game who think that­ trying to buy their way to the top prizes is better­ than employing someone with a football brain to do a­ proper manager’s job. This is why Mourinho left in the­ first place and why Benitez dug his heels in over his­ new contract.

    Scolari (a fine coach) found it­ impossible to control (never mind motivate) Chelsea’s­ players to the kinds of performances they are clearly­ still capable of. Part of the reason for this has to­ be the massive egos that are created when you start­ paying players £100,000 a week. So the wage structure­ has to go as well. A proper youth system is essential­ for growing a club over the long-term.

    In the­ short-term, Chelsea, after selling Cudicini and­ witnessing the very public meltdown of Cech, need two­ new goalkeepers. They will be without Ashley Cole for­ the 1st leg of the Barcelona tie due to suspension and­ they have no replacement at left-back. Whoever slots­ in will have to face Messi (!) and the sale of Wayne­ Bridge now seems extraordinary. Malouda will surely go­ at the end of the season and, with the continuing­ absence of Joe Cole, a left-sided attacker must be on­ the list as well. The purchase of Tevez/Adebayor­ presupposes the sale of Anelka/Drogba which would­ presumably net significant funds.

    From purple_hatstand, on Fri 17 Apr 9:43PM

  12. To brianlombe, seriously are you like 10 years old, or­ just have the mental age of one. Not only can you not­ spell you make no sense. So if you are mentally­ retarted i apologise, but if your not do everyone a­ favour and just shoot yourself.

    From ronaldiniwho, on Fri 17 Apr 9:40PM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Carlo,Carlo,Carlo,Carlo, you da foolish or sumthing?­ dis rassiean, he no good, Carlo,
    you look what he dune­ tu da boy Mourinho...what he dune tu da old man Luiz­ Fellipe..
    now i ask.. what yu think he du tu yu afta­ three moons and yu and team give him­ no
    goals?????????

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Fri 17 Apr 9:16PM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Carlo,Carlo,Carlo,Carlo, you da foolish or sumthing?­ dis rassiean, he no good, Carlo,
    you look what he dune­ tu da boy Mourinho...what he dune tu da old man Luiz­ Fellipe..
    now i ask.. what yu think he du tu yu afta­ three moons and yu and team give him­ no
    goals?????????

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Fri 17 Apr 9:10PM
  15. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    If i was Abramovich, i would approach a young promising­ manager, my choice would be michael laudrup. Give him­ and frank arnesen time to form a friendship and give­ them 30m to spend on younger, but already established­ players. I would look at selling Florent Malouda and­ Deco and bringing in stephen ireland, ryan babel,­ hatem ben arfa, sotiris ninis and yuri zhirkov. There­ would also be a phased introduction into the first team­ of players like Gael Kakuta, Franco di santo and­ michael mancienne

    From ydkiriakidis, on Fri 17 Apr 9:08PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Carlo,Carlo,Carlo,Carlo, you da foolish or sumthing?­ dis rassiean, he no good, Carlo,
    you look what he dune­ tu da boy Mourinho...what he dune tu da old man Luiz­ Fellipe..
    now i ask.. what yu think he du tu yu afta­ three moons and yu and team give him­ no
    goals?????????

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Fri 17 Apr 9:07PM
  17. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Carlo,Carlo,Carlo,Carlo, you da foolish or sumthing?­ dis rassiean, he no good, Carlo,
    you look what he dune­ tu da boy Mourinho...what he dune tu da old man Luiz­ Fellipe..
    now i ask.. what yu think he du tu yu afta­ three moons and yu and team give him­ no
    goals?????????

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Fri 17 Apr 9:06PM
  18. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Carlo,Carlo,Carlo,Carlo, you da foolish or sumthing?­ dis rassiean, he no good, Carlo,
    you look what he dune­ tu da boy Mourinho...what he dune tu da old man Luiz­ Fellipe..
    now i ask.. what yu think he du tu yu afta­ three moons and yu and team give him­ no
    goals?????????

    BEL pa zed

    From Brian, on Fri 17 Apr 9:05PM

  19. Come on now 'go' Chelsea have been up there­ competing in for the Champions league since 1999, I­ think the excuse that we need time to bleed in our­ youth set-up has long since gone. I refuse to believe­ Chelsea doesn't have anyone in its youth/reserve­ set-up no better than Mikel, Stoch, Di Santo, Malouda­ or Ferreira.

    And if it doesn't then all that money­ they have spent on talents scouts etc is wasted and­ Abrom should look at this before spending anymore­ money.

    From RossG, on Fri 17 Apr 8:59PM

  20. chelea can have abedayor he is not that much of a loss

    From OLIVER, on Fri 17 Apr 8:51PM
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