Agent: No Italian Job For Joe Cole

Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has yet to receive an approach from any Serie A club, according to the player's agent David Giesse.

The 28-year-old England international is out of contract at Stamford Bridge this summer and revealed on Tuesday that the club have yet to offer him a new deal.

Speculation has ensued, with Serie A giants AC Milan believed to be keen on his services along with Premier League trio Manchester United, Liverpool and Tottenham.

The former West Ham ace could leave the Blues for free in the summer, but Giesse revealed he is yet to be contacted by an Italian club regarding a move.

"It is true that the negotiations with Chelsea are at a standstill," Giesse admitted to Calciomercato.it.

"Now we are ready to listen to other offers from other teams, but for now no one has called me from Milan or Italy in general."

Trnmere Bring In Chelsea Defender

Tranmere manager Les Parry has continued his loan foray by securing the signature of Chelsea defender Ben Gordon on a one-month loan deal.

The 19-year old left-back is a third year professional at Chelsea having joined them from Leeds.

He has represented England at under-17 level and has been a regular in Chelsea's reserve side this season.

Parry said: "Ben is a talented defender who has a lot of potential.

"With Zoumana Bakayogo and Aaron Cresswell suspended for the game at Brighton on Saturday his signing means we don't have to play someone out of position.

"I'd like to thank Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti for allowing Ben to come on loan to us."

Van Aanholt Latest To Debut In Season Of Breakthrough

The floodgates aren’t open quite yet, but the water is beginning to flow. At Portsmouth last night, Patrick van Aanholt became the fifth recent Chelsea academy product to feature in the first team this season (John Terry aside), and the fourth to debut. Whilst there’s clearly still a lot more to come, Carlo Ancelotti has shown signs of being more like Mourinho than Grant, Scolari and Hiddink, and is willing to give youth its chance.

Van Aanholt, of course, follows Jeffrey Bruma, Fabio Borini and Gael Kakuta as debutants this season, along with Sam Hutchinson, who played for the first time in two and a half injury-riddled years. Now sure, it was away to a turgid Portsmouth team bereft of confidence and already a handful of goals down, but the Dutchman was given a healthy twenty minutes and looked at home alongside more illustrious names. He was only a poor Didier Drogba finish away from notching an assist, providing a sumptuous ball across the face of goal which the Ivorian hitman really should have converted.

With five club-produced players getting playing time already plus Rhys Taylor, Jan Sebek and Daniel Philliskirk serving as substitutes, out of circumstance or otherwise, it’s as positive a time for young players making the step up since the middle of Mourinho’s reign. Back then, Scott Sinclair, Ben Sahar, Nuno Morais, Lenny Pidgeley, Jimmy Smith, Robert Huth, Anthony Grant, Michael Woods and Lee Sawyer all had involvement in one way or another, yet the Portuguese manager was often labelled as someone not willing to give opportunity where it was warranted.

Naturally, one can only work with the tools available, and by looking back through that list, you would struggle to argue against them not having been good enough to make that next step. Whilst the same applies to the current bunch of burgeoning talents, they are the products of a refocused academy, of greater investment and developed under state of the art facilities. They are Arnesen products; a much maligned association, but one which may yet completely alter the perception of somebody who most pundits and indeed Chelsea fans have a dim view of.

So what next? Obviously, the first step is for every one of them to keep up their hard work and earn further opportunities. Injuries in defence have given Van Aanholt and especially Bruma the opportunity to be involved with the first team squad on a regular basis, as it did for Borini earlier in the season when the striking options were weakened. Youth Cup stars Josh McEachran and Jacopo Sala both have first team squad numbers and Gokhan Tore has been involved with the senior team as well, giving an indication into the next group to make their way through.

Don’t read this as an over-the-top reaction to a decent cameo debut against poor opposition – it’s not. However, it’s gratifying to see the first results of seeds laid four or five years ago, however early in bloom they may be. These boys may be the future of the club, they may not be – but they’re contributing at an early age, and those signs are very promising.

Chelsea Duo Florent Malouda & Daniel Sturridge Escape Punishment After Portsmouth Incidents

The Football Association have confirmed that Florent Malouda and Daniel Sturridge will not face any disciplinary action after incidents that left two Portsmouth players with serious facial injuries during Chelsea's 5-0 win on Wednesday.

Pompey centre-back Ricardo Rocha was stretchered off with a broken cheekbone after a collison with Malouda, while forward Tommy Smith had his nose broken after being caught by Sturridge's elbow.

The FA has confirmed that both incidents were not considered "off-the-ball" after a review, and as such the referee's decision at the time is taken as final. Malouda was booked by referee Lee Mason, but Sturridge avoided any punishment.

The outcome is similar to that in Steven Gerrard's recent case, where the Liverpool captain was not punished for an elbow that caught another Portsmouth player, Michael Brown, during their game on March 15.

Portsmouth Win Ends Chelsea’s 'Difficult Moment' – Carlo Ancelotti

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti insisted the Blues’ 5-0 crushing of Portsmouth at Fratton Park has signalled the end of their recent poor run.

Goals by Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda and Frank Lampard sent the Londoners back into second place in the Premier League, just a point behind leaders Manchester United and their manager was pleased with his side’s performance.

“I am satisfied, we played well, we played a good match,” he told Sky Sports after the game.

“They [Chelsea] fought for 90 minutes, it was important because I think this victory finished our difficult moment and so we have to look forward to the next game with more confidence and more optimism.

“Everything is important, the most important thing tonight was the behaviour of my players, they played very well, they concentrated, this is the most important thing

“I think we never lost our way we had a difficult moment, we lost some games, but our reaction was important and now we must maintain this and if possible to improve.”

The match was not without controversy with Ricardo Rocha stretchered off after a tangle with Florent Malouda and Daniel Sturridge also clashing with Tommy Smith who also had to be substituted.

However, Ancelotti refused to be drawn on the two challenges and insisted the Frenchman's challenge was accidental, explaining: “[Florent] Malouda was in front of me I think that he has gone with his head and [Ricardo] Rocha was unlucky. For the other one, [Daniel] Sturridge I didn’t see it was too far from me.”

Next up for the Blues is a visit from Aston Villa before they head to Manchester United and Ancelotti admitted that every game was now crucial.

“Every game is important for us, we have maybe eight or nine games until the end of the season,” he added.

“We are involved in the Premier League and the FA Cup and we want to do our best and now it is important to beat Aston Villa.

“They are a strong team, we aneed to win three points on Saturday and also to maintain this level of play.”

Carlo Ancelotti: Didier Drogba Must Keep Scoring For Chelsea

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has hailed the performances of Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard in last night's 5-0 destruction of Portsmouth at Fratton Park.

Florent Malouda, like Drogba, bagged a brace in the victory, whilst Lampard put the seal on the game with the final goal in injury time.

Whilst Ancleotti was pleased with the performance of his stars, he also wants them to maintain their standards as the Blues head into the last seven Premier League games still very much in the hunt for the title.

"Lampard had a good performance, like the other players," the manager told his club's official website.

"He was happy because he scored the last goal, and he worked for the team.

"It is a very important season for Drogba, a fantastic striker, but I am looking at what he can do the next nine games [seven in the League and a possible two in the FA Cup]. I hope he hasn't finished scoring."

Meanhwile, Ancelotti was able to confirm that the injury to Didier Drogba that saw him hobbling at the end of the game was "nothing special" and that Nicolas Anelka and Salomon Kalou's being named on the bench was about keeping players fresh rather than anything tactical.

Ricardo Carvalho did leave the game in the first half, though, and the seriousness of the problem was yet to be determined.

The Italian explained: "Carvalho has turned his ankle, we don't know now if it is a big problem or not."

Essien: Putting In The Hours

After a frustrating period, Michael Essien is in positive mood as he works his way back towards fitness.

The Ghanaian midfielder has not appeared for Chelsea since December when he tore a hamstring against APOEL in the Champions League, before damaging his knee while on international duty at the African Cup of Nations.

Having suffered some complications in his rehabilitation, the 27-year-old believes he is now on the right track.

'I was hoping to be back available for the home game against Inter but the healing has taken a bit longer than expected because my knee kept swelling up,' he explained on his personal website.

'In two weeks I ended up having four lots of surgery to try and get the fluid away from the area. Finally it seems to be okay and I am making progress. I know I just have to be patient and give it time to settle down and heal.

'I'm in at 9.30 every morning and I don't leave until five and that's seven days a week. I'm spending lots of time in the pool as that's a good way to help the healing.

'On a positive note I'm feeling mentally strong and I try to stay philosophical about injuries. There are worse injuries than mine and there are people in the world suffering with far more serious problems than this.'

Hilario Shows Sporting Support

Hilario was joined at Cobham on Wednesday by international athletes from four other sports and more than 50 youngsters as he helped launch Chelsea's Premier League 4 Sport initiative.

The goalkeeper, currently recovering from injury, was on hand with representatives from judo, table tennis, badminton and volleyball, as well as the club's youth team, to launch the scheme which uses the power of football to boost sporting participation in local schools and clubs.

Premier League 4 Sport is a £3.8m partnership with the Government and sees all 20 top flight clubs linking up with community sports clubs to help attract young people in their area to take up minor sports. It is designed to help with the Government's commitment to offer young people five hours of sport a week, as part of its 2012 legacy plans.

During the visit, Hilario tried his hand at each of the four sports, with his competitive side shining through on both the judo mat and in the table tennis, while the youth lads immersed themselves in the badminton and volleyball, teaming up with the youngsters to test their expertise.

'I think it's very important to introduce kids to other sports, it's not only about football,' Hilario said afterwards. 'It's great that a big team like Chelsea can help kids to find different sports because there are more sports than football - as we saw there is table tennis, badminton, judo and volleyball in there. It also helps kids to meet more people and stay healthy.

'When I was young I lived next to a beach and I played beach volleyball and also used to play a bit of table tennis. I thought I was okay at table tennis until today, but the lady in there was much stronger than me, she was very good.'

The lady in question was coach Alison Broe, who competed for Great Britain at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, and easily outclassed the 34-year-old stopper.

'He has a bit of potential and he did say before that I had no chance, so I was a little bit worried about him,' she admitted. 'He was alright, but I played professionally and in the Olympics, Commonwealth and European games, so I was okay.

'This is a fantastic event; things like this are brilliant and bring more publicity for us as a sport. We're getting out into the schools and linking with a club like Chelsea is fantastic.'

Working with the grassroots sport delivery bodies, the Youth Sport Trust and Sport England, the aim is to get 25,000 young people from across the country, aged between 11 and 16, to join local sport clubs in the four Olympic sports during the two and a half-year scheme.

Olympic hopefuls including judo's Colin Oats, table tennis player Natalie Green and volleyballer Jodie Gooding joined the Portuguese international along with representatives from the Premier League, Sport England and the Youth Sports Trust to celebrate the initiative, while football freestyler Jeremy Lynch (above) gave a skills masterclass.

Andrew Morgan, Chelsea Football in the Community's Essex development manager oversaw the event, and is delighted the club is able to use its appeal to help a large number of kids.

'We are using the name of Chelsea to increase participation levels within the four sports leading up to the Olympics,' he told the club website. 'It's a great programme for us and shows that we're not just doing football initiatives, we're doing a lot of work around communities and reducing crime and anti-social behaviour.

'It's great to bring kids from Essex out of their home county across to Cobham, this place being so fantastic.'