Chelsea plan summer sales to make space for new talent
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DEAL ME IN ... Michael Ballack
MICHAEL BALLACK wants a new Chelsea contract sorted out before the World Cup.
The Germany captain, 33, is a free agent this summer and is seeking a two-year deal rather than the 12 months the club plan to offer him.
But Ballack will fly out to join the German squad at their training camp in Sicily straight after Saturday's FA Cup final against Portsmouth.
He said: "Roman Abramovich will only hold contract discussions once the season is over.
"I have to accept that but everything is becoming rather tight in terms of time."
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STAYING OR GOING? ... Joe Cole's future remains unclear with Premier League champions Chelsea
CHELSEA insist they will not break the bank to keep Joe Cole at Stamford Bridge.
The Premier League champions are determined to ensure England star Cole does not leave on a free transfer this summer.
But Blues chief executive Ron Gourlay has warned the midfielder there is no longer a bottomless pit when it comes to salaries.
Gourlay said: "We will sit down and talk to Joe at the end of the season.
"We will do that with a number of players, but when it comes down to salaries you have to draw the line somewhere.
"Every time we push the wage levels up higher we have somebody else knocking at the door.
"We've got to make a mark in the sand at some point."
Cole, 28, is out of contract next month and has already been linked with Liverpool and Tottenham.
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Chelsea plan summer sales to make space for new talent
Carvalho, on his way out?
Chelsea are planning a summer clear-out to raise funds for new signings. Ricardo Carvalho, Deco, Juliano Belletti and Paulo Ferreira will all be allowed to leave as the club seek to reduce their wage bill and create space in the squad for new players and emerging talent from the youth team.
Ron Gourlay, the chief executive, said yesterday that in an ideal world future signings would be funded by player sales, and although that seems a remote prospect, the decision to trim the squad is a sign that the club are at least making some efforts to operate as a self-sustaining business.
Of the quartet who have been told they can leave Carvalho is the only player with any significant resale value and attracted strong interest from Inter Milan last summer before opting to stay at Stamford Bridge.
Chelsea now accept that their determination to keep hold of Carvalho was mistaken, as his performances have dropped during a season ruined by injuries. Although there are no new offers José Mourinho may make another move for one of his trusted lieutenants, particularly if he leaves Inter to become the coach of Real Madrid, who have also bid for Carvalho in the past.
Chelsea value the defender at £10 million, but have little hope of gaining any fees for the other players they want to offload and will be happy simply to reduce their wage bill. Belletti is out of contract and can leave on a free transfer, and Deco has one year of his contract remaining, but will be allowed to leave for nothing if he wishes to return to Brazil. Ferreira has three years left on his contract, but with José Bosingwa and Branislav Ivanovic also at the club Chelsea will even consider paying him off to secure his departure.
Chelsea have also made it clear that Ashley Cole is not for sale after interest from Real. The England left back said yesterday that Chelsea’s Premier League title triumph had vindicated his decision to leave Arsenal four years ago, for which he was widely vilified.
“It has been a long time and this is my first title at Chelsea and now people will realise why I came here,” he said. “I came here to win the big ones, the Premier League or the Champions League. Hopefully we can get the Double and make history for this club. I am happy and hopefully there is more to come.”
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let ballack go.
his 100k wage is way too high.
if chelsea need players to commit fouls there are lower cost options.
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they need to rid players like ferreira, deco and ballack lar.
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i will miss ballack though, i know most people say he doesn't do much, but i think thats because they associated him as the goal scoring midfielder from his days at bayern.
in chelsea he plays in a more deeper role, and do the dirty job quite well actually, fouling and breaking up play without getting carded and also spreading passes around. but i doubt he will want to be a bench warmer with essien back next season.
ferreira is not so good, but if he's willing to take a pay cut i dont see why they should let him go since he can be a very good spare replacement kind of defender..
deco and beletti can go..carvalho if he goes then chelsea will need another centre back.
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chelsea already have mikel to do dirty jobs.
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they need to find long term replacements for lampard and drogba and carvalho liao, as there are in their early 30s, another 2-3 seasons more before their form fizzled out due to age and lack of pace.
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I remember the chelsea under glenn hoddle....gavin peacock days. Haha now they have drogba and ballack. How far they have come since.
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mikel is nowhere near ballack when it comes to tactical and intelligent fouling..
mikel concedes lots of stupid fouls especially in the penalty box, ballack is very good at this.. and he rarely even gets carded..but i agree, ballack wages is probably too high for that job..
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mikel is never good. I dunno what the hooha was about when chelsea and man u fought over him.
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actually thats because mikel is supposed to be an attacking midfielder.
chelsea is just totally using him the wrong way..
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Originally posted by stellazio:
actually thats because mikel is supposed to be an attacking midfielder.
chelsea is just totally using him the wrong way..
Most probably because he's an african (Think Makelele (he was born in Zaire), Essien, Mahamadou Diarra, Papa Bouba Diop, etc).
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The so-called Star players are drawing too much payroll... Ballack should have gone long time ago... Trim down the payrolls... Get players whom are more productive... actually Joe Cole is too good a player to let go... well, maybe the Italian has his own "Wish-List" in mind in order to bring the UCL to Stamford Bridge next season....
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ill be sad to see ballack go, but i agree that his wages is too high to continue to be a bit part player.. he's very good especially in those tactical matches where you have to control the midfield and close down on the opponents..
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it will be difficult to find a replacement for calvalho.
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Maybe Ancelotti prefers Alex.. so he might get a replacement defender.
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spend big and buy pique from barcelona lar.
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yucks, i hate pique and puyol..always like to act innocent and blardy arrogant..
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if not nesta leh, but he is 33, can come chelsea to be a sub and backup. plus he is italian. compatriot of ancelotti.
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Ballack is still at Chelsea because he can sell shirts.
I hope Mikel can be pushed up to play MC instead of DM. DM is not his position, seriously!
Chelsea got plenty of defenders from its Youth Team, Michael Mancienne/Sam Hutchingson are all pretty ripe for the job, so I doubt there will be any more defenders coming in.
I would want a big mega signing of a striker though.
Its sad to see Zhrikov a 18m signing sitting on bench :l
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You guys really think Joe Cole is good? From his past few matches' performance, I don't see the confidence that used to be in him anymore. He can't run past defenders, he doesn't have the confidence to shoot when he has a clear sight of goal and his passing accuracy has gone down greatly.
Btw, Mikel is not a DM, but due to the injury of Essien, he was forced down. He is a good strong CM or AM who can add that attacking edge to Chelsea. His shot is damn powerful.