It’s hard to believe that the loveable Peter Kenyon has any enemies in this world. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Ricardo Carvalho was looking nailed-on to stay at Stamford Bridge this summer, especially after Chelsea were kind enough to appoint his manager at international level. However, [Read the rest of this entry »]

You have to feel sorry for the Blues. Don’t other clubs in Europe understand that Chelsea are the biggest and best there is, and that if they come calling for your multi-million pound assets, you should simply step out of the way and let them loot away? Milan are clearly not reading this script and it’s annoying when clubs such as this try to prevent Roman Abramovich’s world dominance. How are Chelsea supposed to ‘grow the brand’ when children in third-world countries can’t put two K’s and two A’s on the back of their blue shirt? [Read the rest of this entry »]

New Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has always wondered what £100m gets you on the football open market, and he’s about to find out.

Multiple sources are saying that Roman Abramovich has decided to get back in the transfer race, and will give Scolari a blank cheque to chase the top players in the world.

New Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari will be handed a £100m transfer kitty to lure the best players in the world to Stamford Bridge. (Various)

The Daily Mirror reports that Scolari will not waste any time trying to bring the best and brightest to Stamford Bridge, and will prepare a £55m super bid for a certain Milan midfielder.

Scolari will target AC Milan star Kaka and will spend £55m on the midfielder. (Daily Mirror)

Oh, and those Rumours about Valencia ace David Villa being linked with Liverpool? Well apparently the new Chelsea man will be happy to squash them by making an ambitious swoop for the Spanish star.

David Villa is the most wanted striker in Europe with Scolari favourite to land the £25m Spaniard. (Daily Mirror)

It’s sure going to be an interesting summer at the London club!

If Chelsea supporters had £100m to spend this summer, who would you bring to the club?

The bookmakers make him odds-on to replace Avram Grant – is Luiz Felipe Scolari set to become the new manager of Chelsea? The Portuguese coach has been keeping his cards close to his chest, although we’ve now caught a glimmer that he might be holding all the aces, if his latest press conference is anything to go by.

Sky Sports report that ‘Big Phil’ has admitted that you sometimes have to ‘up sticks’ and move out of your comfort zone if you are to further your ambitions, hinting that the Stamford Bridge hotseat awaits. He certainly has Portugal playing the style of football that Abramovich would like to see in west London, is this already a done deal one wonders?

“I have a contract with the Portuguese Football Federation which I will fulfil and we will see what happens at the end of that,” said Scolari.

“I will see what happens, it would be difficult to leave Portugal, if I have to do it, but I am professional and I could live in another country.”

Should we read anything into the below? The betting markets are generally a good indicator of what is likely to happen, although there was a big plunge on Scolari for the England job before the great man seemingly did an about-turn and decided to shun the opportunity instead (and who could blame him!).

Chelsea fans – surely you’d be chuffed to see this man become your next coach?

You can wave a bucketload of cash in a player’s face, but they’re not always guaranteed to take the money and run as far as Chelsea are concerned. It is thought that the Blues’ top three targets this summer included Fernando Torres and Franck Ribery, although both have amazingly decided to stay with their clubs in a shock bout of loyalty, thus passing up the chance to join the most loveable club in Europe.

The Daily Telegraph report that Ribery is having none of the rumours linking him to Stamford Bridge. He declares himself happy at Bayern Munich, especially as the club have undergone a resurgence which sees them back in the Champions League next season.

With owner Roman Abramovich likely to make significant investment in the playing squad this summer, Ribery was among the possible targets, but has signalled a desire to see out his contract at Bayern Munich, which expires in 2011.

“I signed a four-year contract when I arrived at Bayern a year ago and there is a good chance I will fulfil it,” Ribery said. “I have so much fun at this club – it is like Marseille multiplied by 10.”

It now appears that Chelsea are chasing Kaka, offering up Didier Drogba in a potential swap deal with Milan. You can’t excuse them of not aiming high with their transfer targets, although will the cuddly figure of Peter Kenyon be left with egg on his face once again?

France international winger Franck Ribery has shunned the advances of moneybags Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, in favour of staying with Bayern Munich. The French star said that he was having a spiffing time at Germany’s best club:

“I signed a four-year contract when I arrived at Bayern a year ago and there is a good chance I will fulfil it.
“I have so much fun at this club – it is like Marseille multiplied by 10.” (Telegraph)

Meanwhile, there are some crazy rumours suggesting that Chelsea’s Evil Emperor chief executive Peter Kenyon is swanning around Italy, busy trying to convince AC Milan to swap player of the year Kaka for moaner of the year Drogba. The Kings Road dilettantes must think that the Rossoneri were born yesterday – when in fact the majority of the Milan squad are older than Yoda…

We all know that money is no object to Chelsea, especially when Roman Abramovich continues to financially support the club with his small change. Where the Blues are involved, other clubs know that they can often add a zero to player’s price tags and be fairly optimistic that their suitors will stump up the readies – just ask Porto.

The Daily Mail report that Chelsea FC are ready to spend big bucks to bring the talented Franck Ribery to Stamford Bridge. The Frenchman has had a strong season for Bayern Munich, helping them to win the Bundesliga with some ease. Now he’s wanted by the Blues to help them regain the Premier League title.

Roman Abramovich has been told he will have to pay a British record transfer fee to prise Franck Ribery from Bayern Munich. Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has already made contact with Bayern about the midfielder’s proposed move to Stamford Bridge but a decision will not be made until the end of Euro 2008.

Ribery has emerged as one of Chelsea’s top three transfer targets this summer – AC Milan midfielder Kaka and Liverpool striker Fernando Torres are the others – but Chelsea will have to pay in excess of £31million to sign the France midfielder.

Nothing like aiming your sights high eh Kenyon? Chelsea have already done business with Bayern to bring Michael Ballack to the Bridge, although it’s not clear whether Ribery actually wants to leave in the same way that the former wanted to experience English football. Surely there’s no doubt that this would be a great addition to the Chelsea squad, perhaps bringing the Blues career of Florent Malouda to a halt?

The summer is traditionally a slow time for football journalists, despite Euro 2008 starting at the weekend. However, they’re having a field day with the vacant Chelsea manager’s position, especially after Carlo Ancelotti snubbed the club on Monday after they approached the Italian to replace Avram Grant. The Times reports that, despite a staggering £7million a year to manage the Blues, the manager is sticking with Milan who probably don’t pay the minimum wage themselves.

However, despite Chelsea’s belief that their offer would be enough to end his seven-year reign at the San Siro, Ancelotti last night insisted that he would be staying at Milan after a 90-minute meeting at the ground with Adriano Galliani, the club’s vice- president. “I’m staying at Milan for sure,” Ancelotti said. “I’m 150 per cent certain I will stay.”

The bookmakers now have Roberto Mancini, Frank Rijkaard and Phil Scolari as joint favourites, with the latter potentially the next candidate that Abramovich and Co will approach. Much depends on whether they’re prepared to wait until after Euro 2008, which seems bizarre, considering that it’s several weeks away and players’ futures are up in the air right now.

Portsmouth boss Harry Redknapp is looking to add a bit of pace to his FA Cup-winning squad, and he’s hoping that Chelsea might in be in the mood to take a loss on their investment by selling off winger Shaun Wright-phillips for half the cost.

The Sun is reporting that Redknapp would like to bring in Wright-Phillips to Pompey for £10m, and hopes Chelsea don’t mind losing £11m for the winger after he was bought three years ago from Man City for £21m. However, judging by the way Roman Abramovich has been throwing away money recently — £2m to The Special One for a Ferrari, and £5m to make ‘Average’ Grant go away — the thought of him giving Pompey a decent price for SWP doesn’t seem too far-fetched.

Pompey boss Harry Redknapp wants to capitalise on his side’s FA Cup success by strengthening his squad. And he believes he can persuade Chelsea to take a loss on out-of-favour Wright-phillips. (The Sun)

Judging by how little Wright-Phillips was used at Chelsea, would this even be a good investment for Pompey? Or would Harry and his FA Cup be better off spending the £10m on a player that has actually done something in the past year?

It’s almost certain that whoever becomes the next manager at Stamford Bridge will become a very rich man in the process. Money is clearly no object where Chelsea are concerned and it’s probable that the new gaffer will get a lucrative three-year contract and a fat bonus, providing the team manages to win something. There are plenty of big names in the queue for this particular gravy train, with Didier Deschamps claiming he’s in the running for the hotseat.

The BBC report that the Frenchman, who played a season for Chelsea a few years ago, considers himself to be on the three or four-man shortlist drafted up by Buck, Kenyon and Abramovich. The former Monaco manager knows what it takes to guide a team to a Champions League final, albeit one that gets hammered in the final. Will the former Blues water-carrier be the chosen one?

He told Monaco-based radio station RMC: “Three or four managers are on the list and I am one of them. It would be hard to refuse Chelsea.

He added: “I want to return to coaching. I needed to rest, but I feel capable of achieving good things now.

“Breaking back into management is complicated because there are not always the opportunities, but the Chelsea position is now free. I am flattered to be considered a possible candidate for the role.

“They sacked their manager not because of the results they achieved, but because of their wish to play a more attacking, attractive style of football in the next few years.”

Despite Deschamps bigging himself up, the bookmakers still make Frank Rijkaard favourite to be the next Chelsea manager, despite the Dutchman insisting he was going to take a break from football (perhaps he just meant a few weeks playing golf). Just who is going to be the next coach and how long will they lost moreover?!

Frank Rijkaard is the bookmakers favourite to become the next Blues boss, although there are plenty of lively contenders to replace Avram Grant. Whether or not the former Barca coach wants an immediate return to management is open to question, while it’s also questionable as to whether Roman Abramovich will want to appoint Roberto Mancini. While the Inter coach has done well domestically, he’s found Europe a much harder nut to crack, not something that is music to the ears of Peter Kenyon.

Another supposed front runner for the role is Guus Hiddink, despite the BBC reporting that the Russia coach would be likely to turn the role down if it was offered to him. However, with Abramovich apparently paying his wages to coach his national side, surely it wouldn’t be a shock to see him appointed?

Hiddink is yet to sign a new deal to stay on with Russia but BBC Radio 5 Live football correspondent Jonathan Legard said: “His agent says there is nothing suspicious about the unsigned contract.

“And his relationship with the Russian Football Federation is good, even if Hiddink himself expressed concern last week that the issue could become a distraction.

“By contrast, Hiddink’s fellow countryman Frank Rijkaard is readily available and may not object as much as (former boss) Jose Mourinho eventually did to Abramovich’s football involvement, which is reckoned to be as much as 30% of on-the-pitch activity by Richard Bevan of the League Managers’ Association.”

COS reckons the smart money could instead be on Sven-Goran Eriksson, who has allegedly been stalling on the vacant manager role at Benfica to see if Grant was going to be axed at Stamford Bridge. It’s hard to see him continuing much longer as Manchester City’s coach and all roads could lead back to London for the Swede.

Was it really their failure to win any silverware that saw the club ditch someone who didn’t even have a full season at the Stamford Bridge helm? Or is this just a convenient excuse to ditch someone regarded as a stop-gap by Roman Abramovich? Former Blues manager Glenn Hoddle has told BBC that the Israeli might have hung on to his post if Chelsea had landed the Premier League or the Champions League this season.

“Managing Chelsea at this time, three runners-up situations is just not good enough,” Hoddle told BBC Radio 5 Live.

“When you look at Roman Abramovich’s money that he has put into it, unfortunately that’s the pressure that anyone who goes in there is under.”

Never mind the fact that a bit of continuity is not such a bad thing. Look at Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign at Old Trafford, Arsene Wenger at Arsenal and Rafael Benitez at Liverpool. Managers who have had several seasons to make a mark at their respective clubs. It had been thought that Jose Mourinho was going to stay at Chelsea forever and a day this time last season, despite missing out on the Premier League. Will the next Blues boss be under pressure this time next season?

You can always rely on Jose Mourinho to open his big mouth at the drop of a hat. He failed to steer Chelsea to a Champions League final during his three seasons at the club, something that clearly still rankles with the Portuguese fool. Why else would he jump on the anti-Avram Grant bandwagon as soon as his replacement has been cruelly axed by Abramovich, Buck and Kenyon. Reuters report that the self-styled ‘Special One’ had described Chelsea’s season as poor, despite the fact it was considerably better than his last one at Stamford Bridge.

“In my philosophy it was a very bad one because in football ‘almost’ means defeat and Chelsea almost won the Carling (League) Cup, almost won the Champions League and almost won the Premier League. Almost is nothing.

“After two titles per season for the last three years there were zero titles this season, which in my philosophy means a really bad season. Maybe in the philosophy of a loser this was a great season, which I respect,” he said in the interview published on Sunday.”

It would have been interesting to see if Jose Mourinho would fare any better against a Ronaldo-inspired Manchester United. It’s also clear that we only saw the best of Michael Ballack in a Chelsea shirt under Grant, and that everyone else performed well for the manager, with the exception of Drogba and Anelka. The bookmakers have cut their odds on JM returning to the Bridge but surely that’s a bridge too far?!

As we all know, it’s impossible to know what Roman Abramovich’s thoughts are regarding Chelsea FC and the future of manager Avram Grant. The Russian billionaire does not speak to the press on any issues surrounding his football club and doesn’t seem to give much away to his own staff either. The Guardian report that the manager’s future is hanging in the balance and all the Israeli can do is put his case forward as to why he should continue to lead this team next season. What do you think of his argument?

“I’m very proud of many things,” said Grant. “In the first press conference, I said I wanted to improve our game, to be interesting and in the final of the Champions League. I think everybody thought I was completely mad or crazy but we’ve done it. It’s good for a first year. Sir Alex Ferguson has only been in the [Champions League] final on two occasions so I have a future. People thought Chelsea were on the way down but the players have shown they can develop and play better football. I cannot talk about the future now. I’ve spoken with Peter [Kenyon, the chief executive] and others, and we’re just thinking about the game.”

Come now Avram, Chelsea featuring in the Champions League final has never been a remote possibility this season, even after drawing 1-1 with Rosenborg. He continues to persist with his bizarre notion that the team were crumbling when he replaced Mourinho, not that they just needed some fresh impetus. Even so, the Blues have come within a whisker of winning the Premier League and Champions League – does Grant deserve a full season at Stamford Bridge to strut his funky stuff?