eChelseafc

Position: Central Midfield

Former Club: Benfica

Nationality: Brazilian

Age: 23

Ramires has been confirmed as a Chelsea player after signing a 4 year deal with the club after completing a medical according Chelsea TV

The young Brazilian midfielder impressed in Benfica’s title winning side in Portugal last season. Having moved to Lisbon from Cruzeiro last summer, the ‘Blue Kenyan’ (as he was nicknamed in his homeland) has become hot property on the European transfer market.

Chelsea’s midfield has lost Michael Ballack this summer and with Michael Essien picking up more and more injuries; it might be time to invest in a midfield which has carried itself without major investment for practically five seasons.

Moreover, Frank Lampard is now the wrong side of 30, meaning that he will surely begin to miss more games as the strain of Premier League, Champions League and International fixtures keep racking up on his body. Not to mention the fact that Joe Cole has swapped Chelsea blue for Liverpool red.

Ramires has a knack of scoring goals with runs from deep, as well as an eye for a killer pass. The fact that he is just 23 means that the future of the midfield at Stamford Bridge could be secured for several years, as he will join the relatively youthful pairing of John Obi Mikel and Essien as well as the highly rated youngster Nemanja Matic.

Profile by Richard French

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Has Carlo Ancelotti Lost Faith in Hilario?

After some poor pre-season goalkeeping displays, it would not surprise me if Carlo Ancelotti has lost faith in his two back up options Ross Turnbull and Henrique Hilario.

A series of gaffes by both goalkeepers has left the Italian with a selection headache he could do without as Chelsea seek to retain their title.

The current transfer rumour is that former Portsmouth number 2 and Tottenham target Begovic will be coming to Stamford Bridge from Stoke to shore up what is normally one of the strongest areas of the Chelsea line up. [guardian article]

If as the rumours suggest, Ancelotti is now looking to bolster his options then surely this will mean the end of Henrique Hilario and possibly Ross Turnbull’s ambitions at the club.

Whilst being understudy to one of the top goalkeepers in the World is nothing to be embarrassed about, if you are unable to inspire confidence to cover 3 or 4 games a season, then as footballers these players must be wondering why they bother.

Sure not having any work to do and earning a large wage on the bench may suit some (infact to many this has been Hilario’s Chelsea career), yet if there is no possibility of breaking into the team, even as a back up, then you should be looking for a lower level to play your football and at least get games.

Sad but true it appears that Hilarious and Turnbull just aren’t making the grade despite some decent covering moments from Hilario at least in the past.

If the confidence is gone, the question is who should be Chelsea’s number two?

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Most of us know the agony of thinking a star player is going to join our club, only to wake up and find out that he has joined another club. The Robinho transfer saga was one that ended in sorrow for all Chelsea fans, even if in the end it looks like we were saved a great deal of money and hassle.

Today when a player like Ramires is ‘claimed’ to be on the verge of joining the club, it would be better to be more cautious.

Chelsea-bound Ramires passes to his Brazilian team mate Robinho

With the issue of 3rd parties owning Ramires, some claim that it won’t be much of a problem.

However, according to Premier League rules the transfer could be in jeopardy and we as fans musn’t get overconfident till we see the player holding a Chelsea Shirt at a Stamford Bridge press conference.

No doubt that such a transfer is leaning towards the Bridge, but we cannot be sure. Ever since the Robinho Kit Sale debacle its hard to say whether even the official site could be 110% right that the transfer will happen.

Fans can only hope that the club will sign the players that are needed to take the club forward. However, today there is the uncertainty of a last minute bid, a player changing his mind, politics and cash.

Robinho also chose City over Chelsea but his Brazilian counterpart, Ramires, has chosen Chelsea. Let’s hope that this time we can sign the player who truly wishes to be at the club.

Chelsea fans will have seen the name Kia Joorabchian is involved with the Ramires transfer and groaned, and understandably so. West Ham United fans will assure you that getting involved with the Iranian is not an ideal move.

The chase of Ramires may seem painful, but hopefully it will be smiles all round by the start of the season

The club was fined £5.5 million for breaching FA transfer rules when they fielded Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano (both then owned by Joorabchian’s Media Sports Investments) in the 2006-2007 campaign.

If West Ham was owned by a Russian billionaire who had had dealings with the Joorabchian team before, there would have been no such problems. Luckily for Chelsea, that is exactly the scenario here.

The rules in place in the Premier League mean that Chelsea must pay the whole transfer fee for Ramires to his club, Benfica. This is hindered only by virtue of the fact that he is owned 50% by Joorabchian and a further 30% by football agent Pini Zahavi. Any potential deal which goes through would have to be done by Chelsea and Benfica first, and then Benfica and other parties second.

For other clubs this may be a problem, with complicated contracts and two football agents involved. However, when Roman Abramovich took over the Blues in 2003, the deal was conducted by a super agent, none other than Pini Zahavi.

This will mean that the Russian’s people will no doubt have common ground with Zahavi and Joorabchian, which should mean that the transfer goes ahead as planned.

Ramires is said to be joining Chelsea for £20 million, with an eventual 80% of that fee going to the third and fourth parties. Benfica will see just £4 million for the Brazilian.

Joorabchian is set to more than triple the money he paid for the 23 year old back in April. Having paid just £3 million four months ago, he will land £10 million when Chelsea unveil their new signing next week.

Don’t believe the hype which will gather around this story, Ramires will be lining up next to Lampard and co in a few weeks time. Chelsea are too cautious after the tapping up incident with Ashley Cole and the Gael Kakuta affair to let this become another West Ham story.

It will be refreshing when web pages and newspaper columns once again feature reports of what happens on the pitch, this legal stuff gets very boring.

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Is Ramires on the way to the Bridge? If so who will follow him?

Every day I get asked by Chelsea fans, what is the latest transfer news? In recent days I am afraid that there has been little to tell them beyond shameless paper talk.

The only notable rumour is the strong rumblings that the signing of Ramires is a done deal, whilst I have no firm evidence to confirm this the rumours are strong and this will be a great signing for Chelsea.

So far Chelsea have been linked with over 40 players, the strongest rumours obviously centre on the superstars of the world such as Fernando Torres, Kaka, Aguero to bolster an ageing team.

However with 36 days left of this summer’s transfer window, I fear that many fans will be disappointed, as little appears to be on the horizon.

Liverpool appear to be demanding too much for injury prone Fernando Torres and little seems to be materialising for anyone apart from Ramires.

The coming weeks however do give hope to those hungry for new signings, most of the players that fans hope Chelsea will be targeting are only just returning to training after the World Cup, so it is likely that a quiet transfer window for most clubs will start to heat up.

Hopefully when this happens eChelseaFC will be here to give you the latest reaction to the transfer activity around the Bridge.

Throughout the ebbs and flows of a Premier League season, one can expect the unexpected. When the transfer window closes at the end of August, teams wishing to challenge for major honours must have huge depth in every position as the Sport has never before been so geared toward squad football.

With this in mind then, Chelsea must add to the group of players they have before big spenders Manchester City and Roy Hodgson’s Liverpool start to amass teams capable of matching that of the Londoners.

The Goalkeeping situation at the club is something which needs attention, with Petr Cech picking up more and more injuries as years go by. His replacements are a perceived weakness by those who have pored over the squad in anticipation of the impending season.

Hilario, whilst never having given people reasons to seriously doubt him, is not a top notch number two. He has been a faithful servant of the club, but with a first choice so prone to missing games, the man coming in must be capable of a long stint in the side in all competitions.

Ross Turnbull is very young and surely a player for the future. He played well when called upon last season, but is again not a worthy replacement for a club looking to go the distance in the Champions League and domestic competitions.

Sergio Asenjo from Athletico Madrid is one of the best up and coming keepers in Spain, and Dutch number one Marten Stekelenburg of Ajax is rumoured to be heading out of the Amsterdam club. Chelsea could look to either as a number two or even a challenge to Cech’s first team place.

Defensively, the Blues have no real problems heading into the new campaign, with two players of real quality for each position. Ricardo Carvalho and Alex will no doubt be rotated as the former is approaching what is surely his last hurrah in the game.

Carlo Ancelotti has some decisions to make before the new season

Jose Bosingwa is set to return after having missed the majority of the Double winning season with a nasty knee injury, and Yuri Zhirkov provides more than adequate cover for Ashley Cole.

Cole is rumoured to be leaving the Bridge this summer, with Jose Mourinho said to be keen on taking the left back to the Santiago Bernabeau. The talk in Spain however, is that the ‘Special One’ will only be able to land one of his two defensive targets, with his priority being Internazionale’s Brazilian full back Maicon.

The midfield provides more of a headache for Carlo Ancelotti. Having allowed both Michael Ballack and Joe Cole to leave the club in the summer (and Deco soon to follow them out of the door) he must surely be looking to strengthen in an area which has been intimidatingly strong for the club in recent years.

Benfica’s Ramires will be his second signing of the summer after he took Yossi Benayoun from Liverpool for £5 million in June. This will add much needed legs to the middle of the park for Chelsea as his options have started to look thin on the ground.

Many have criticised the decision to bring in the Israeli skipper, but the manager has been shrewd by adding him to the Chelsea ranks. He has experience, the ability to score goals and versatility. Not to mention he is much less injury prone than the man he replaces, Joe Cole.

Nemanja Matic looks to be a promising young talent and has impressed Ancelotti in the reserve games in which he has played. He shows huge maturity on the ball and having watched him on several occasions, is evidently more aware off it than his rival for a central midfield berth, John Obi Mikel.

Frank Lampard will once again be the key man for the Blues as he looks to build on a fantastic season last time out, and the team will certainly revolve around him. Michael Essien is gradually getting back to fitness which will be a huge boost to the squad, having missed the second half of last season with a hamstring injury.

The Ghanaian must now have a full season without an injury after he missed huge chunks of the previous two. If he is absent from the team for much of this season, the club will be forced to look at his injury record and make provisions for life after ‘the Bison’.

After a record breaking season in front of goal, most people will call for more of the same from Chelsea as we go into the new season. However, should Didier Drogba or Nicolas Anelka pick up an injury, things could become very tricky with only Saloman Kalou and Daniel Sturridge to fill what would be a huge void.

With Drogba now 32 and Anelka just a year younger, injuries are going to become more and more frequent (not to mention the fact that Drogba is prone to the occasional suspension). Whilst Sturridge and Kalou have proven they can contribute to the side, they are far from being a potent force in front of goal and Champions League marksmen they are not.

As highlighted in a previous article, bringing in someone like Neymar from Santos in Brazil is an option, with the youngster keen on a move to West London. If not there are players capable of doing a short term job that are available for transfer. Despite his age, Raul on a free transfer from Real Madrid would not be a bad choice.

Athletico Madrid’s Sergio Aguero has been talked about as another potential signing and is a huge talent. However, the €40 million price tag for an inconsistent performer who is ill-suited to the English game is extortionate. Uruguay’s Luis Suarez of Ajax might be a better option as buying from Holland is cheaper than Spain, with Suarez having a decent injury record and an exceptional goal scoring record.

With just over a month to go before the transfer deadline, we can expect Chelsea to be active in bringing in new blood. The squad is excellent in most positions, but without bolstering the side with three new players they will struggle to repeat the success of last season.

Golden boot winner Didier Drogba played a central role in the most successful season in Chelsea’s history.

When off the floor holding his face, his strength, power and finishing makes him a valuable and desirable commodity.

Logic would suggest that Chelsea would be mad to even consider selling such a prized asset, especially one so instrumental to the clubs on-field success.

However at 32 Didier Drogba is in the final stages of his peak and approaching the twilight of his career.

With only two or three seasons at the top level remaining there is an argument that if Didier Drogba would really attract a transfer fee of £20m at this stage of his career, then maybe the idea of selling him is not as daft as first thought.

This kind of figure is unheard of for a player of his age and could only be dreamt of by bottomless transfer fund at Manchester City.

This does not mean that he should automatically be sold should such an offer come along, The golden rule is that a player should only leave the club if there are better players available in his position at the club or an equivalent or better replacement is lined up.

I do not think that for an equivalent cost that an equivalent player can be found, there was a time only a decade ago when £20m would buy you any player in the world. However with the money in the game and the influence of owners willing to operate at a loss, £20m is a drop in the ocean and any player secured for this value likely to constitue a gamble.

I think that the jury is out on this one as push comes to shove the decision is split, if the club do not sell then Drogba ceases to have resale value but will most likely provide the club with at least 20 goals a season for the next two seasons.

If the player is sold then there is the monumental job of replacing him at a financially viable price.

As Shakespeare once said, to sell or not to sell? Now that is the question. As a fan i think the answer is definitely no, the club will lose a significant edge in the title race if Didier Drogba is not at the Bridge this season.

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Ramires

Position: Central Midfield

Club: Benfica

Nationality: Brazilian

Age: 23

Price Tag: €30 million

The young Brazilian midfielder impressed in Benfica’s title winning side in Portugal last season. Having moved to Lisbon from Cruzeiro last summer, the ‘Blue Kenyan’ (as he was nicknamed in his homeland) has become hot property on the European transfer market.

Inter Milan have expressed interest in the player as they look to lower the average age of their midfield. A €30 million release clause in his contract means that one of his many admirers in Europe may well come up with the cash to secure his signature.

Chelsea’s midfield has lost Michael Ballack this summer and with Michael Essien picking up more and more injuries; it might be time to invest in a midfield which has carried itself without major investment for practically five seasons.

Moreover, Frank Lampard is now the wrong side of 30, meaning that he will surely begin to miss more games as the strain of Premier League, Champions League and International fixtures keep racking up on his body. Not to mention the fact that Joe Cole has swapped Chelsea blue for Liverpool red.

Ramires has a knack of scoring goals with runs from deep, as well as an eye for a killer pass.  The fact that he is just 23 means that the future of the midfield at Stamford Bridge could be secured for several years, as he would join the relatively youthful pairing of John Obi Mikel and Essien as well as the highly rated youngster Nemanja Matic.

This would be a fantastic signing under the noses of Chelsea’s European rivals, but don’t hold your breath, my reckoning is he is heading to Italy.

Neymar

Position: Striker

Club: Santos

Nationality: Brazilian

Age: 18

Price Tag: €30 million

Bringing two Brazilians to the Premier League would be an unlikely move by Carlo Ancelotti, but Neymar has attracted so much attention from European royalty such as Real Madrid and A.C Milano, it would be foolish to ignore him as an option for bolstering the Chelsea attack.

The Santos player has a price tag of €30 million, just as Ramires does, but with the ridiculous prices of potential signings being reported by the British press, the deal doesn’t seem bad. After all, this player is so highly rated in his homeland that a petition was started in order to get him into the Brazil National Squad for the World Cup in South Africa.

At just 18 years of age Neymar has scored 40 goals in 70 games for Santos, and by playing with experienced campaigners Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka, his game can only improve. This player will inevitably come to Europe and once again it seems that a Spanish or Italian club will snap one of the biggest talents in world football.

English clubs all too often ignore South America as a young Diego Forlan’s ‘flop’ at Manchester United still lingers here. Kaka was signed by A.C Milan and Messi by Barcelona. In five years time we could be saying ‘Neymar by Chelsea’.

Mesut Ozil

Position: Attacking Midfield

Club: Werder Bremen

Nationality: German

Age: 21

Price Tag: €20 million

Most English fans will have heard of Mesut Ozil, the third generation Turkish immigrant who pledged his future to the German national team and helping to dump out Fabio Capello’s England side in the World Cup last month.

Ozil is a playmaker who likes to roam all areas of the pitch but has been most devastating just behind the striker. He is someone who can unlock the opposition with a pass or a moment of magic, leading to him being named ‘the German Messi’.

A plethora of clubs have shown interest in the 21 year old, with Barcelona pushing for his signature as a potential long term replacement for Xavi when he retires. That’s if Cesc Fabregas remains in London. The Chelsea side has lost some creativity with the departure of Joe Cole and Deco soon to follow; leaving too much reliance on Florent Malouda which may be detrimental to the Frenchman’s game.

Ozil was signed by Werder Bremen in 2007 after two seasons with Schalke 04, but it was when the inspirational Diego left Bremen for Juventus in 2009 when the youngster stepped up to the plate, scoring the winning goal in the German cup final in the same year.

He has been widely recognized as the future of German football for sometime now and is seemingly a perfect replacement for a Joe Cole-shaped gap in the Chelsea squad. Whilst he is not a prolific goalscorer, he would feed passes Drogba and Anelka which would be turned into goals more often than not. So it seems a match made in heaven. Chelsea need a playmaker, Werder Bremen need to sell their star before his contract runs out in a year from now.

The sticking points are that the player has stated that he would rather go to Barcelona and any potential deal would be subject to Cesc Fabregas heading to the Nou Camp. The Catalans are desperate to lure the Spaniard away from England and should he complete the move, Ozil will be in either Chelsea blue or Arsenal red next season. If Fabregas remains, Ozil will get his dream move to Spain.

It is not often that I get drawn into writing about transfer speculation, I normally leave that to others that you will see writing here in the coming days and weeks during the build up to the start of the season.

On this occasion I feel compelled to write about the players that Chelsea should resist the urge of chasing in the coming weeks.

In defence and attack Chelsea have strength and depth and potential match winners, it is for this reason that I see no real need for the procurement of any ‘Marquee’ signings at the club in the coming weeks.

Amongst the big names that have been suggested the three below would constitute a step backwards as the club strives for financial stability.

Fernando Torres

Although a proven Premier League talent, Fernando Torres with a hefty price tag and legs seemingly made of matchsticks would not be a shrewd investment for Chelsea Football Club.

Whilst it is likely that an injury free Torres, would be a real weapon for any side, I do not believe on the current evidence that this is something that will occur in the next 18 months.

Therefore even if a deal was infact possible, the club should focus on developing the talent that it has at its disposal or invest in younger talent that will cost less and draw a lower salary.

Kaka

A ridiculously talented footballer that Chelsea simply do not need, the transfer fee and salary make the signing of the former Carlo Ancelotti charge unsustainable.

I also feel that he would struggle in the Premier League, but fortunately this pipe dream will never come to pass.

Robinho

Its ok the last one is a joke, I just want to remind people that not all big name players live up to their reputation, at the time many were devastated by the transfer chaos that took place two summers ago but I think Chelsea were the winners in that transfer saga.

With a club the size of Chelsea there is the temptation to try and sign every star of the modern game in the Real Madrid ‘Galaticos’ style, however as the mixed fortunes of Real Madrid show, success is built on squads and not neccessarily stars.

There have been departures, some may argue that the loss of Michael Ballack and Joe Cole will leave a whole in the club. However the return of ‘new’ signing Michael Essien means that these losses will not be as hard as many will fear.

There is no doubt that a few players will need to come in to replace the players that have left, but in my opinion we need squad players, or young players that can be developed, rather than overpaid and overhyped ‘superstars’.

Is Fabio Borini the Future of Chelsea's frontline?

As the media keeps reporting Chelsea are tracking various high profile strikers, we can only hope that one of these rumours might be true. Torres, Suarez and Aguero have already proved themselves on the international stage and would be great strikepartners to Didier Drogba.

Sergio Aguero has made it known that he would like to play at Chelsea along side the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. Furthermore, he mentioned that he would like to link up with Fernando Torres at Chelsea. The Argentinian who is married to Diego Maradona’s daughter has great goal scoring ability.

Torres is well known to Chelsea fans, the fastest man to reach to 50 Premier League goals, he also holds the record for scoring the most goals scored by an overseas player during their debut Premier League season. With Torres hungry for Champions League Football, I hope that he will make the easy choice and choose Chelsea over Liverpool.

Luis Suarez scored 49 goals last season for Ajax and contributed to Uruguay’s dream run to the semi-finals in the 2010 World Cup. Suarez has played a supporting striker throughout his career for the likes of Diego Forlan, Klaas Jan Huntelaar and Marko Pantelic. A potential partnership with Didier Drogba could gift Chelsea Football Club another record breaking goal tally next season.

Looking at less established strikers Romelu Lukaku is probably Europe’s most sought after youngster. A Chelsea fan, he was recently pictured wearing the new Chelsea home kit at Stamford Bridge. The Belgian 17-year old already has 2 caps for Belgium and will give anything to join Didier Drogba at Chelsea.

The real question to ask ourselves is that is it necessary to sign another striker? Especially when we have Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini already at the club, there are also others such as young Jacopo Sala desperate for a chance to shine?

Therefore do we need to spend money to make more of a crowd in the striking department? Daniel Sturridge who could be England’s future, should be given a chance in the first team after managing 5 goals in his first season at the club from limited appearances.

The question I put to you and the club is, who should be preffered, should we favour Torres or Suarez over Sturridge and Borini?