Cech Proud Of Tough Blues

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech has hailed the team's resilience this season as they stand on the brink of an historic League and FA Cup double.

Chelsea's victory over Liverpool at Anfield on Sunday made it six out of six against this season's Champions League-qualified teams - the first time in the Premier League era that a clean sweep over the other three has been achieved.

It is a marked contrast to last season when Chelsea won just one of the corresponding games - away to Arsenal. The other five yielded a home draw to Manchester United and four defeats.

But Cech highlights the team's resilience as another reason why Carlo Ancelotti's side top the Barclays summit with just one game left to play.

Whenever Chelsea suffered a setback, the Blues returned stronger and that is a major boost for Cech.

"We are confident and we know that we shouldn't lose two games in a row," said Cech. "We know that when something goes wrong, we always want to put it right the next game and so far it has worked well.

"We have won all of those big games home and away. Last season, before the change of the manager, we gave points to our rivals."

Sunday's results moved Cech level with Liverpool's Pepe Reina in the race for the Premier League Golden Glove. Both now have 16 clean sheets.

But Cech is putting all thoughts of personal glory aside as Chelsea chase their first title since 2006 this weekend.

Victory over Wigan at Stamford Bridge on Sunday would deliver the Barclays crown in Ancelotti's first season in charge.

"If at the beginning of the season someone had said we were going to play the last game at home and a win would win the league, I think everybody would have signed for it," declared Cech. "So we know what we have to do. We play at home and it is always good if you can win a title at home."

Nicolas Anelka Ready To Sign Two-Year Contract Extension At Chelsea

Chelsea forward Nicolas Anelka is close to signing a two-year extension to remain at the club, according to the Daily Mail.

The French international's current deal expires at the end of next season, and both club and player have been in negotiations for a number of months. Anelka has reportedly been looking for a £40,000 raise from his current £80,000-a-week deal, which the club have been resistant to agreeing to as they attempt to cut costs across the board.

Both Michael Ballack and Joe Cole have seen their contract talks flounder in recent weeks over wage demands, but it appears either Anelka or club chief executive Ron Gourlay have made some compromises as the forward now looks set to secure his future at Stamford Bridge until 2013.

The 31-year-old has scored nine goals in 32 Premier League games this season, adding a further seven assists.

Hernandez Pleased With Chelsea Interest

Spanish international Pablo Hernandez admits he is happy to learn that Chelsea is tracking him.

The 25-year-old Valencia wide man is reportedly high on the Blues' list of targets for the summer.

Sources close to the Spanish club have confirmed that Chelsea scouts have been watching him, although no contact has been made between the two clubs.

Speaking after Valencia's 3-1 win over Xerez on Tuesday, Hernandez admitted he was happy to hear about Chelsea following him.

"Chelsea? It is flattering to me because it demonstrates that I am doing well this season," he said.

"But now is not the moment for me to speak about this subject.

"As normal this news appears at the end of the season but the important thing for me is to continue getting victories for Valencia and to confirm our place in the Champions League."

No Chelsea Approach For Thiago

The agent of AC Milan defender Thiago Silva has played down reports linking the Brazilian with a move to Chelsea.

Sunday newspapers credited Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti, formerly of Milan, with an interest in a reunion with the 25-year-old.

But Thiago's representative, Paulo Fernando Tonietto, insists he has not been contacted by Stamford Bridge officials and that his client wants to see out his current deal at the San Siro, which lasts until 2013.

"Thiago Silva is very happy at Milan and he wants to honour his contract," Tonietto told calciomercato.it. "Galliani says he is not for sale and he is the boss."

On the rumoured interest of Chelsea, Tonietto said: "I know nothing because if there was a team interested in Thiago they should contact AC Milan, I am just his agent.

"I can only say that Ancelotti knows him well, and not only him.

"I think that Thiago Silva is the best defender in the world and these stories are further evidence of his good work this season."

Chelsea Ready To Outbid Manchester City In The Race For Liverpool Striker Fernando Torres

Chelsea will try to blow Manchester City out of the water in the race for Liverpool striker Fernando Torres this summer, planning a bid that could reach £70million to bring the Spaniard to Stamford Bridge.

Introductory talks over Torres have already occurred and Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is now ready to do whatever it takes to acquire the 26-year-old star from the Reds, according to the Daily Mail.

The Blues can clinch their third Premier League title under Abramovich with a victory over Wigan Athletic at Stamford Bridge, and still have a FA Cup final against Portsmouth to look forward to.

However, despite the likelihood that Chelsea win the Double this season, Abramovich will be looking to add more stars in an effort to make a run at a Champions League title.

Torres came to Liverpool from Atletico Madrid in 2007 for £20m and recently committed to the Reds by signing a four year contract which pays him £110,000-a-week.

However, a disappointing season in which Liverpool was unable to qualify for the Champions League, and the possible departure of manager Rafael Benitez could force Torres to depart Anfield in the summer.

Manchester City will have a better chance to sign Torres if they beat out Tottenham Hotspur for the last Champions League spot, but playing for established contenders like Chelsea could be a more attractive prospect for the Spaniard.

Chelsea Set For Fight With Top European Clubs To Sign Gimnasia La Plata Star Fabian Rinaudo

Chelsea will have to battle the cream of Europe for highly rated Argentinian holding midfielder Fabian Rinaudo, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

The 22-year-old enjoys a growing reputation in the game, after a solid season with current club Gimnasia la Plata. Compared to Liverpool's Javier Mascherano, the combative holding player has reportedly caught the eye of Blues manager Carlo Ancelotti.

The club will have to move quickly if they are to capture their man as the diminuitive youngster reportedly has a number of admirers around Europe. Spanish side Valencia have reportedly already tabled a £5 million bid for his services, while Galatasaray, Napoli and Juventus have all been linked.

In the past Everton have been tipped with an offer for Rinaudo, although the Toffees are likely to be muscled out by the increased competition if a bidding war starts this summer.

Rinauldo has been capped for Argentina by manager Diego Maradona, and is on his provisional list of players that could be in his World Cup squad.

Schalke Linked With Chelsea Midfielder Michael Ballack

German international Michael Ballack recently admitted that his Chelsea future is in doubt as contract negotiations haven't resulted in a new deal yet and the midfielder could very well leave Stamford Bridge this summer.

The experienced midfielder was previously linked with Inter, but a return to the Bundesliga now also appears to be an option with Schalke having shown an interest in signing Ballack.

"We are indeed interested in signing Michael Ballack. I'm confident that he's ready to accept a pay cut if he decides to return to the Bundesliga this summer," Schalke coach Felix Magath was quoted as saying by Berliner Kurier.

However, the 33-year-old midfielder has not given up on a new Chelsea deal just yet and contract talks are expected to be resumed at the end of the season.

Ballack played for Chemnitzer, Kaiserslautern, Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich before he joined Chelsea in 2006. He has since made over 100 league appearances with the Londoners.

Ancelotti To Present Summer Transfer Target List To Abramovich

Carlo Ancelotti will present his summer transfer target list to owner Roman Abramovich on Thursday.

Abramovich has so far held back his spending plans but with the club on the verge of the Double, he is now expected to loosen the purse strings for Ancelotti.

Among the names Ancelotti is expected to put forward will be AC Milan pair, striker Alexandre Pato and Brazilian compatriot defender Thiago Silva, in a joint deal that would cost the club about £70 million.

He may have to settle for lesser lights, though, with Abramovich known to be reluctant to spend the required £40m on another Ancelotti target, Atletico Madrid and Argentina striker Sergio Aguero.

Roman Abramovich Set To Demand Why Carlo Ancelotti's Chelsea Team Did Not Win Champions League

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti will be asked to explain to owner Roman Abramovich why his side have not won the Champions League - even if the Italian coach manages to seal a Premier League and FA Cup double, according to a report from The Sun.

The Blues will win the league if they beat Wigan Athletic at the weekend, whilst they meet Portsmouth in the FA Cup final on May 15.

Nevertheless, director Mike Forde insisted that there will still be a comprehensive review process at the end of the campaign to establish just why the Londoners failed on the continental stage.

"The day after we win the title we will ask ourselves why we didn't win the Champions League.

"In football it is about getting better every day, that's what we are aiming for.

"[Jose] Mourinho started with this vision years ago and he passed the torch successfully to other big managers like Guus Hiddink and Ancelotti."

Forde also insisted that the club were working well when so many fine coaches appeared to want to come to Stamford Bridge.

"That the best coaches in the world think we are doing a good job is clear," he added.

"Carlo Ancelotti brought only one assistant with him and that tells us we have a good staff of our own - and that's what it is all about in the end.

"So the way we are working, that's not a secret - every club in the world can have a copy of that.

"The real secret, if you can call it that, is the people who work for us."

FA Youth Cup Victory Points To Bright New Age For Chelsea

The next fortnight may be littered with silverware for Chelsea though they are already celebrating their first trophy of the season, slipped in almost under the radar. The FA Youth Cup was won for the first time in 49 years with a pair of superbly executed second-half goals. The senior side will hope this is a sign of things to come.

Aston Villa can take great heart from their 3-2 aggregate defeat here but victory will be seen as significant given the focus placed on – and finance poured into – Chelsea's youth system. Carlo Ancelotti is due to meet the club's hierarchy this week for the latest round of discussions over summer transfer policy, though there has already been a shift in their approach.

Where once there were limitless funds to strengthen, the Italian has already emphasised his commitment to youth development by admitting last month that a quintet of youngsters – he singled out Jeffrey Bruma, Fabio Borini, Gaël Kakuta, Patrick van Aanholt and the 21-year-old Nemanja Matic – will be regulars in his match-day squads next term.

Only one of those five featured here. Bruma, the 18-year-old centre-half who has made two substitute appearances in the Premier League this season, planted a free header wide early on. There were better indications of his quality thereafter but Ancelotti will have been frustrated at the ease with which Kofi Poyser leapt above the centre-half to flick in Villa's opening goal just after the half-hour. Bruma is better than that.

Of those emerging from the academy set-up, the manager has similarly high hopes for Jacob Mellis, the 15-year-old Nathaniel Chalobah and Josh McEachran. The last, who has been training once a week with the first-team squad, will sign a professional contract at the end of the season. He was a blur of clever touches here, growing into the contest. The right-back, Billy Clifford, also impressed while Conor Clifford battered in a fine late winner.

They could yet become familiar names. Ancelotti intends to follow Arsène Wenger's approach to the Carling Cup next season, cramming his side with younger blood. The team that went out of that competition at Blackburn in this season's quarter-final included 11 full internationals, with five players over 30 and none younger than 22. Given that John Terry, in the stands tonight, was the last youth-team graduate to establish himself in the senior set-up at this club, the hope is that times are changing.

Roman Abramovich wants this to happen and his sporting director, Frank Arnesen, is aware of the need to cultivate players capable of making their mark in the Premier League given the investment made in youth team development in recent years. "It's not easy for the coach to bring players in [to the first team]," Arnesen said. "A club like Chelsea is all about winning. You can't have young players in the team and not be winning."

The implementation of the Premier League's Grow Your Own policy, by which eight homegrown players – registered with an English or Welsh club for at least three years before their 21st birthday – must be included in a 25-man squad to be declared on 1 September, will effectively force their hand. "It will give clubs an extra incentive to invest in youth," the Premier League's chief executive, Richard Scudamore, said. In that context the departures of such seniors as Juliano Belletti, Deco and Hilário are more understandable.

Villa, winners of this competition in 2002 when a team that included Liam Ridgwell and Steven Davis defeated Wayne Rooney's Everton, are already an academy success story. Ryan Simmonds drew a fine save from Sam Walker before Poyser's third goal of the cup run – superbly taken after Samir Carruthers' surge and Simmonds' cross – edged them ahead on aggregate. It was a finish of which Gabriel Agbonlahor would have been proud.

Martin O'Neill will have been encouraged by his team's poise and style. They benefited from Chelsea's profligacy, Jacopo Sala dragging a shot wide of the far post and Benjamin Siegrist doing well to tip Aziz Deen Conteh's attempt on to the woodwork, before Marko Mitrovic touched in the excellent Sala's centre to put Chelsea level. Victory, confirmed by Conor Clifford's long-range shot, was harsh on Villa but will have prompted relief of sorts for Arnesen. The Premier League and FA Cup will draw the focus for now but there is clearly promise to be had in this club's longer-term future.