The Telegraph reports that Big Phil, clearly a member of the Frank Lampard fan club, wants to offer the England midfielder a whopper of a contract. [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 »]

There was a mutual respect between Sir Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, despite the latter’s best attempts to rub everyone up the wrong way with his constant press manipulation and ideas above his station. The Man United manager found his Chelsea counterpart amusing and put up with him over a bottle of red wine. [Read the rest of this entry »]

…And when they’re done, they’ll throw some money Barca’s way and bag Deco too, and they might nab Kaka as well. [Read the rest of this entry »]

Cristiano Ronaldo might not be the only Portugeezer leaving Old Trafford this summer. The Daily Telegraph reports that Carlos Queiroz, the Manchester United assistant manager, is top of Portugal’s list to replace Phil Scolari after the latter decided to join Chelsea from 1st July. How ironic it would be if Chelsea’s decision-making had a direct impact on their main Premier League and Champions League rival.

Portugal want Manchester United assistant coach Carlos Queiroz to replace the exiting Luiz Felipe Scolari.

The Portuguese has emerged as the top target in wake of Scolari’s impending switch to Chelsea at the conclusion of the Euro 2008 finals.

The 55-year-old is currently on holiday in Mozambique but has not received any offers from the Portuguese Football Federation who are likely to make their move following the championships in Austria and Switzerland.

This is an interesting one, will Queiroz return to his national team’s set-up and take charge of some very talented players? Such a move would put any hopes of replacing Sir Alex Ferguson at Manchester United in jeopardy and, with Mark Hughes joining Man City, it could pave the way clear for Steve McClaren to become the next gaffer of the Red Devils (hardly).

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?

Leave it to Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich to pull a rabbit out of his hat when you least expect it.

With his team fighting to retain Lampard, Cole and Drogba this summer amid transfer rumours, Abramovich decided to put a halt to the speculation by announcing that Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari will be heading to London to manage the club next season.

The Chelsea website has issued a statement that Scolari will take over coaching duties following Portugal’s run in Euro 2008.

‘Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Luiz Felipe Scolari will be the club’s new manager from July 1, 2008.

Felipe has great qualities. He is one of the world’s top coaches with a record of success at country and club level, he gets the best out of a talented squad of players and his ambitions and expectations match ours. He was the outstanding choice. (Chelsea FC Website)

For any Chelsea supporter, this has to be massive news amid all the talk about the club losing critical players this summer to the “non-special one” and AC Milan. However, with Scolari at the helm, I think you’ll see the current team rally around the new coach and stay next season.

What’s your take Chelsea supporters? Is Scolari the right man for the job? Do you think he has what it takes to lead the team back to the top of the mountain in the EPL?

Yesterday, we reported that Ricardo Carvalho was being philosophical about his Chelsea future, with rumours linking him to Jose Mourinho and Internazionale. Not any more. The swift appointment of Luiz Felipe Scolari at Stamford Bridge has seen ‘Ricky’ become one of the most loyal players on the books all of a sudde, his future was clearly never in doubt after all.

The Daily Telegraph report that the central defender was shocked by the timing of the announcement, but is naturally delighted that his national team coach is taking the reigns at Stamford Bridge. Not least because he’s now in a position of strength at his club and will be the first name on the teamsheet.

“We were all shocked by the news. We heard the rumours but didn’t guess he would be going to Chelsea after the Euros.

“He is a great manager and a big personality. He’s the kind of guy that players respond to and I think we can go forward with him.”

Does this also strengthen Chelsea’s chances of landing Deco from Barcelona, and one or two other members of the Portugal squad? Carvalho, Ferreira and Bosingwa are already on the books at the Bridge, so Big Phil just needs Pepe to have a back four full of Portugeezers.

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?

That’s what the Daily Mail are claiming in an exclusive today. Despite continuing speculation surrounding the position that’s been vacant since Avram Grant (remember him?) was cruelly axed by Chelsea, it appears as though the club have landed their man and the suggestion is that it’s none other than Phil Scolari.

Chelsea FC have agreed a deal with a new manager and last night it was looking increasingly like Luiz Felipe Scolari. Details of the contract were finalised last week in one of the best-kept secrets in football history.

Scolari has long been the favourite to succeed Avram Grant and the fact that an announcement has not yet been made points to the Portugal manager. He said as much last Friday in his press conference in Neuchatel, even though he refused to rule out a move to Stamford Bridge at the end of the tournament.

The FA know from bitter experience that Scolari is not someone who likes to commit his future in public to another employer while under contract. That would be reason enough for Chelsea to keep developments under wraps and would explain why the club appear so relaxed. Chief executive Peter Kenyon is understood to be on holiday in Italy and has let it be known the club are happy with their progress in recruiting a new boss.

Are the Mail putting two and two together to come up with five? It appears that Chelsea are in a similar boat to Manchester United in the sense that they have to wait until Portugal’s involvement in Euro 2008 is over. For the champions, urging Cristiano Ronaldo to stay will be the objective, while for the latter, it’s the player’s national coach.

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.

Goodness me, we know who Mark Hughes’ biggest fan is (and it’s not Mrs Hughes). It appears that Manchester City owner only has eyes for the Welshman as the club get ever closer to snaring him from Blackburn Rovers. The Daily Mail report that the former Thailand prime minister is chuffed to bits that they’ve landed Sparky as their manager, despite previously chasing after Phil Scolari to be Sven-Goran Eriksson’s replacement.

“He’s an outstanding manager who has achieved many things with Blackburn,” Thaksin told Sportsmail last night. “Mark was always the first choice of our new executive chairman, Garry Cook. Together they will make a great team. They will both prove to be excellent acquisitions, I’m sure.

“These are exciting times for Manchester City and I hope the supporters can understand that I share their goals.

“That sometimes means making ruthless decisions. Now we can go forward to a new era, with a new management structure and great hope and ambition.”

Until next summer that is, when Hughes is cruelly axed after taking the club to an eight-placed finish and a semi-final place in the FA Cup. Although it’s always hard to know what goes on behind the scenes, Shinawatra is misguided if he thinks that his new manager can guide City to a top-four finish next season or the season after. To believe this can happen shows a massive amount of naivety on his part.

Another day, another candidate for Chelsea’s vacant coachcing position. While it may seem that every coach in Europe is rumoured to be considering a move to Stamford Bridge, the Telegraph reports that one man high on Chelsea’s wish-list will CERTAINLY not move to the club.

“AC Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani has refused Chelsea permission to talk to their coach Carlo Ancelotti. Galliani told AC Milan’s official website: ‘He [Ancelotti] has not met Chelsea, because the English club asked for our permission and naturally everything stopped there. He and another Italian coach were at the top of Chelsea’s list.’
Galliani added: “The fact that Ancelotti is sought after and esteemed pleases me a lot but he remains Milan’s coach”.

If anything, Chelsea’s interest in Ancelotti casts more doubt over who will succeed Jose Mourinho. Ex-Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini seemed to be Chelsea’s top choice, but their interest in Ancelotti makes it seem as if the Blues are not completley sold on Mancini. These statements from Galliani will also be of interest to gamblers, as the bookmakers gave Ancelotti 9/4 odds in becoming the next coach of the Blues (tied for first with ex-Barcelona man Frank Rijkaard).

One Chelsea man who will be happy with this news is Portugese defender Ricardo Carvalho. The Telegraph reports that the solid right-back thinks that Luiz Felipe Scolari, his current coach while on duty for the Portugese national team would be the right man for the job.

The one thing that we are sure about regarding the Blues’ new head man is that nobody is sure what the deal is. Now that Galliani and Carvalho have put their two cents in, what’s your opinion about who WILL and who SHOULD be the new coach for Roman’s men.

For all those Chelsea supporters that have been worrying about who would take over as the new manager at Stamford Bridge club: You can relax, because based on the word coming out of London, it appears that former Inter Milan boss Roberto Mancini will be named the new Manager on Monday.

The Times the Times is reporting that several senior players at the club who were looking to discuss their current deals had been notified that they’ll be able to start contract negotiations at the beginning of the week when the Managerial position is cleared up.

Chelsea are expected to have their new manager lined up by Monday. Several senior players with uncertain contractual situations have been advised to wait until then, when the club’s managerial situation will be clearer.

Since the departure of Avram Grant from the West London club last week, a half-dozen names have emerged as candidates, including Roberto Mancini, who was ousted from his Inter Milan post on Thursday.

According to sources familiar with the situation, José Mourinho, the former Chelsea manager, has agreed a three-year deal with Inter, who had hoped to unveil him on Monday. (The Times)

So for those of you that had The Special One in your, “who will be the next manager at Chelsea” football pool, you can throw those betting tickets away, because it looks like Chelsea and Inter plan on swapping coaches.

So what’s your take Chelsea fans? Is Mancini the right man to lead the club forward? Or do you wish Roman would have waited until after Euro 2008 to discuss the opening further with Portugal manager Luiz Felipe Scolari?

Roberto Mancini’s sacking as Inter manager may have come as a shock, but his unemployed status may not be lasting very long according to the bookmakers. The Italian is strong favourite to become the next manager of Chelsea, with his agent hinting that his client would naturally be Interested in the vacancy if there was any approach from this popular football club which everyone loves so much.

The Guardian report that while Mancini is still a bit down in the dumps, being relieved of his duties at the San Siro may have been a blessing in disguise if he’s given a pot of cash to effectively do a steering job on a squad brimming with world-class talent.

“As of now, there is no contact with Chelsea,” said agent De Giorgis. “Mancini is not a person or a coach who likes to propose himself to a club, he waits for a club to look for him so we are in that position right now. We are not proposing Mancini to any club. Chelsea are one of the top five clubs in the world so it is more likely, if there will be any talk, there is more of a chance of it to happen now than before.”

The other managers on the shortlist appear to be Carlo Ancelotti, Phil Scolari and Blackburn manager Mark Hughes, who was popular at Stamford Bridge during his playing days. But are any of the above manager genuinely serious about taking charge of a team where the stakes are high and you’re under a whole world of pressure from the word go?