Villa In For SWP

Aston Villa are ready to rival Portsmouth in the
race to sign Chelsea midfielder Shaun Wright-Phillips, according to reports.

Fratton Park boss Harry Redknapp has made no secret of his desire to land the England international and is confident he would leave Stamford Bridge to join the FA Cup winners on the south coast.

He said recently: "I know Shaun and his dad (former Arsenal and England ace Ian Wright) think Portsmouth would be a good move for him."

Redknapp, however, revealed he may have to sell some of his current players to fund an £8million move for Wright-Phillips having recently shelled out £11million to sign Peter Crouch.

Reports now suggest Martin O'Neill could enter the race for the former Manchester City flyer, who was on target in Chelsea's 4-0 win over Guangzhou Pharmaceutical yesterday.



Wright-Phillips failed to hold down a regular shirt at Stamford Bridge under Jose Mourinho and Avram Grant, but is likely to be given an opportunity to impress Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Chelsea Reject Barmigham's Approach For Chelsea Starlet

Chelsea have rejected an approach from Birmingham City for winger Scott Sinclair.



Birmingham have failed in a bid to sign Sinclair on loan, says the Daily Mail.

Chelsea wage bill nears £150 million mark

Chelsea are bracing themselves for another huge increase in player salaries that could take their annual wage bill close to £150million as the recent round of contract renegotiations is set to continue. John Obi Mikel and Joe Cole are the next in line for new deals and expect to open talks before the start of the season after Wayne Bridge, Petr Cech and Michael Essien signed new contracts in the past week. Discussions are under way with Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack, and Didier Drogba is also demanding a pay rise to keep him at the club.

Chelsea's wage bill for 2006-07 was £133million, £40million higher than the Barclays Premier League's second biggest spenders, Manchester United, but even that sum, which represents 71 per cent of their turnover, is likely to be dwarfed when their latest results are released early next year.

The contracts signed by Bridge, Cech and Essien have added £4million to the club's wage bill, and Lampard is due for a £1.5million-a-year rise if he agrees to Chelsea's £140,000-a-week offer. Mikel can expect his salary to double to £80,000 a week at a cost of an additional £2million a year to the club because the Nigerian is expected to take over Claude Makelele's position as the midfield anchor. Cole is likely to receive an additional £1million to take his wages to a similar level.



Deco's three-year contract is worth almost £5million a year and José Bosingwa's £2.5million, bringing the total cost of new players, new contracts and those in the pipeline to a staggering £16million annually. In contrast, those players who have left the club this summer, such as Steve Sidwell, were relatively modest earners, with the exception of Makelele, whose departure on a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain will save Chelsea £80,000 a week.

Chelsea's largesse may be unsustainable in the long run and makes a mockery of their aim of breaking even by 2010, but their determination to keep the squad together at almost any cost is a testament to the success of their player recruitment in recent years.

Luiz Felipe Scolari, the manager - who earns £5.5million a year, £500,000 more than José Mourinho was banking from Chelsea this time last year - outlined his faith in his squad after the 4-0 win over Guangzhou Pharmaceutical yesterday, refusing to be drawn into a slanging match with Sir Alex Ferguson over the United manager's claims that his players are too old. Salomon Kalou, Lampard, Franco Di Santo and Shaun Wright-Phillips scored the goals in a straightforward win. “I have the players with experience and I have some young boys in my team,” Scolari said. “But I feel with my team that we have experience for the Premier League. I'm not nervous at all. I have the pressure, but all of the coaches have the same pressure. It's normal.

“Don't forget that I was a coach for club teams for 17 years of my life. I was only working with the national team for seven years. I feel the same as I was coaching the other teams. I need to work morning and afternoon, I need to grow the team and I need to think up new tactics for my training.”

Scolari also expressed confidence that Lampard would stay at the club, even though he has yet to agree to a new contract. The England midfield player wore the captain's armband for the second half after John Terry's substitution last night, although he refrained from kissing the club badge after scoring Chelsea's second goal.

“I said two days ago that Frank is here, he is with us, training, playing very well,” Scolari said. “He is one player from our group and the speculation is part of big speculation in the world for this player or that player. Until August 31 [when the transfer window closes] there'll be more speculation for Chelsea than for any other team. After then the speculation will not finish.”

Ben Haim Close To A £4m Switch To Manchester City

Reports in Dailymail claim that the two clubs have agreed over the transfer fee which would be in the region of 4 million pounds. Now the player is set to have talks with Manchester City who are believed to be ready to pay Ben Haim £60,000 per-week salery





The Israel International who had a miserable year with the Blues has been training on his own at the club’s Cobham training ground while his teammates are on tour in China, has chosen City over Newcastle.

Scolari Expects Frank Rumours To Continue But Remains Confident

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari admits speculation over Frank Lampard's future will continue until the end of the summer transfer window.

The England international has been strongly linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge this summer.

Italian giants Inter Milan have made no secret of their desire to sign the 30-year-old, with former Blues boss Jose Mourinho keen to bring Lampard to the San Siro.

Scolari is confident Lampard will start the new season with Chelsea, however it has been suggested that he may depart the club for free when his contract expires next summer.

Lampard was on target in Chelsea's 4-0 friendly triumph over Guangzhou Pharmaceutical on Wednesday, and Scolari feels his involvement in the pre-season tour of China demonstrates his commitment to the club.

"I have said before, Frank is here, he is with us training and playing very well, he is an important player for us," said Scolari.

"The speculation is normal because until 31st August there will be a lot of speculation."

Felipao Starts With A 'Comfertable' Win

Luiz Felipe Scolari took charge of his first match with Chelsea today in which Chelsea defeated their opponents Guangzhou Pharmaceutical by 4 goals... It was an easy day for the Premier League n Champions League runners up...

'Big Phill' opted for a 4-1-3-2 system n Kalou played upfront alongside Anelka who looked much happy playing at his preffered position.. Overall, the Blues dominated the opener of their five-game pre-season tour of Asia and Russia, with the only concern for Scolari seeing summer signing Jose Bosingwa substituted after 19 minutes with a thigh injury after a brief but impressive debut at right-back. Kalou scored the opening goal with a fine low finish in the 19th minute.




Scolari fielded a strong side from the start, with Deco making his debut in midfield alongside Lampard, who played the entire game. Joe Cole and Andriy Shevchenko were not included in the squad due to minor injuries and Didier Drogba did not even travel to China.

Lampard and Deco pulled shots wide in the opening minutes as Chelsea controlled the early stages with the Portugal international dominating midfield. The visitors opened the scoring when Mikel’s defence-splitting through-ball caught the home side flat-footed, allowing Kalou to ghost in unmarked to fire home.

Following five half-time changes, substitute Wayne Bridge saw his deflected shot hit the post before Lampard showed brilliant vision to double the lead by chipping Li Shuai from 30 yards, the Guangzhou goalkeeper only just outside his six-yard area.

It was a superb strike and underlined the England player’s value to Chelsea as talks continue over his future. After Lampard’s goal, half-time substitute Florent Malouda fired wide twice in quick succession before 19-year-old Argentine Franco Di Santo, a second-half substitute, struck the upright after weaving his way through on the edge of the area.

With 12 minutes remaining Frenchman Malouda broke down the left and pulled a low cross across the face of the goal for a sliding Di Santo to net in his first appearance for the club.

Another substitute, Shaun Wright-Phillips, who has been linked with a move away from Stamford Bridge, then sealed the win in the dying moments with a shot on the turn from inside the area in the closing minutes.

It completed a gentle introduction for Scolari to life on the touchline with Chelsea. He said: 'It’s always good to win your first match, even though this one didn’t matter much. The team are relaxed, although we have some problems physically, but nothing we can’t sort out.'

Chelsea To Offer Frank A Bumper Deal

This morning, reports in Daily Telegraph claimed that Chelsea had offered the England international a 5 year contract worth £150,000-a-week which if he accepts it would make him Britain's highest-paid player..

Chelsea are hoping their lucrative offer will kill off the chances of former Blues manager Jose Mourinho luring Lampard to Inter Milan either this summer or next.

“sources at the club” are said to be confident that Lampard will sign the offered contract, that will keep him at Chelsea for the rest of his career.

And “a source at Stamford Bridge” has told the Daily Express: "The club are desperate to keep hold of Frank. They had talks with him just before the China tour which they hope will finally convince him to stay long term.



"I know Frank is very tempted by the offer as it means he could potentially see the rest of his career out at Chelsea, and there is every chance he could sign.

"However, a lot of bad feeling was created when details of the contract negotiations were being publicly discussed by the club and there are still some issues to iron out."

Essien fires back at Fergie

Sir Alex Ferguson claimed yesterday that the Blues had too many players in their 30s to achieve anything special during the upcoming season.

But Essien thinks that the experience of the senior compatriots in the team such as Lampard, Ballack n Deco would be more of an advantage..

“Players like Ballack, Lampard and Deco are world class,” the Ghanaian midfielder said in The Sun. “They can change a game in an instant.

“When you are working with them on a regular basis, you improve every day as a player and as a team.”

United will be defending two titles over the next 10 months after edging out Chelsea to claim both the Premier League and Champions League crowns last term.

Most would be expecting much of the same this time around. Essien, however – whether to rankle or through genuine belief – insisted that the previous campaign’s also-rans will instead be the Blues’ main challengers.

“I don’t think United will be our principal rivals,” he added. “Liverpool, Arsenal and a lot of other clubs are signing good players.”