Ancelotti Wants Reunion With Superstar

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has been very outspoken about his admiration for Real Madrid playmaker Kaka. Under the tutelage of Ancelotti, the Brazilian went from a developing youngster to a global superstar at AC Milan. Now, with the Blues set to pull out of an expensive deal for Liverpool’s injured forward Fernando Torres, Kaka’s chances of securing a move to the Premier League have increased significantly.

Merely two days ago, Ancelotti acknowledged his desire to coach Kaka once again but conceded that the transfer was unlikely to happen due to the player’s importance at Santiago Bernabeu.

“Unfortunately he cannot come: firstly Real Madrid don’t want to sell him, and secondly we would need a consent over the transfer, and thirdly it would be a multi-million operation. None of these conditions exist,” said the man who led Chelsea to a domestic double in his very first season in England.

Fresh reports coming out of the Spanish media suggest otherwise. It is actually believed that Los Blancos manager Jose Mourinho rates Dutch midfielder Rafael van der Vaart as a more important player to build the team around. Therefore, the highly rated Kaka can possibly be deemed surplus to requirement in the coming days.

If that ends up being the case, it is expected that Mourinho will also consider cut-price deals for the former Ballon d’Or winner. Without a doubt, this rumor is poised to begin the biggest transfer saga of the summer as the football world will keep its fingers crossed to see whether or not Kaka will join his former coach Ancelotti at Mourinho’s former club.

Ibrahimovic Laughs Off City And Chelsea Talk

Barcelona striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has insisted he is staying with the Spanish champions and quashed speculation linking him with a move to the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City.

Ibrahimovic has been strongly linked with a move away from the Nou Camp following a disappointing first season at Barcelona and the club's summer signing of Spain striker David Villa.

But, speaking at a press conference announcing his return to the Swedish national team, Ibrahimovic said he has no intention of leaving the Catalan giants.

"I was a Barca player when I left (to go on holiday) and I'll be a Barca player when I go back," Ibrahimovic said. "I have four years left on my contract.''

The former Inter Milan forward also took a swipe at the press for their constant publication of stories linking him with other clubs.

"I want to congratulate everybody that has used my name, because it's fun to have been at Chelsea, at Manchester City, without having been there,'' he said.

Chelsea Weighing Up £25m Neymar Bid

Chelsea are contemplating a £25 million bid for Brazilian starlet Neymar, a deal that would see the highly-rated striker become the most expensive teenager in world football.

Neymar, 18, has impressed at Santos over the past 12 months, and his performances led to widespread calls for Dunga to call him up to Brazil's World Cup squad.

He didn't make the plane to South Africa but that hasn't stopped Chelsea working on an offer to bring one of the world's hottest prospects to England, with the Blues thought to be deep in discussions about a possible move.

Neymar's current contract runs until 2014, but Santos is happy to cash in. The club insists they will not do a deal for anything less than the striker's £28.4 million release clause, but if Chelsea come anywhere close to that figure, the Brazilian side are certain to sell.

"Chelsea want the boy, but wanted him to gain some experience in English football first with another club," A source close to the transfer told Soccernet. "That doesn't look likely, so it wouldn't be a huge surprise if they buy him outright, and a bid anywhere over £20 million is sure to persuade Santos to sell."

Under rules in Brazil, Neymar was prohibited from registering for a team outside Brazil until his 18th birthday, but with the first transfer window since he turned 18 in February now open, Chelsea are considering a bid.

West Ham had been making all the running to acquire the teenager, but, clearly the Hammers couldn't afford to buy Neymar outright, and the door is now open for Chelsea.

Neymar's agent, Wagner Ribeiro, masterminded the deal that took Robinho from Santos to Real Madrid in 2005, as well as the same player's subsequent £34 million British-record transfer to Manchester City - and now he is behind an astonishing move to bring Neymar to English football.

The boy's father, Neymar da Silva Santos, has appeared happy with the arrangement to let his son settle into a completely new environment, which could still include a learning curve with West Ham before heading on to Stamford Bridge.

A potential stumbling block is that the boy is 40% owned by a group of investors, and to qualify to play for a club in England, the third party owners would have to be bought out entirely.

Chelsea Offer £50m For Torres

Chelsea has made a club record £50million bid for Fernando Torres. Liverpool turned down a £40m offer for the Spanish striker, 26, last week.

And the Anfield club made it clear they would not welcome any further approaches for their World Cup-winning star.

But that will not deter Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich from stepping up the pursuit of his top target this summer.

A top Stamford Bridge source said: "It's true Liverpool have knocked back the first bid of £40m but it's highly unlikely that will be the end to it.

"Let's see what happens when an offer of £50m lands on Christian Purslow's desk."

Red Rom is now on holiday after spending two weeks at the World Cup finals in South Africa but will test Liverpool's resolve by upping his offer.

He is hoping a significantly improved offer will concentrate minds at a club that has failed to qualify for the Champions League.

They are also £350m in debt and made a £55m loss in the last financial year.

Torres, who joined Liverpool for £21.5m from Atletico Madrid three years ago, met with new Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson and managing director Purslow this week in Spain.

But that did little to stifle speculation surrounding his future.

And if the Kop favourite comes out publicly and demands to leave Merseyside, then Liverpool may reluctantly consider doing a deal.

But sources close to the hitman, who will be out for three weeks after tearing an abductor muscle in the World Cup final, say he is in no rush to commit himself either way yet.

A Liverpool insider said: "The club was quick to reject Chelsea's £40m bid and tell them Torres is not for sale.

"Fernando could kill the deal stone dead by coming right out and committing himself to the club. Hopefully he'll do that sooner rather than later."

Newcastle In For Chelsea Starlet

Newcastle United has been linked with a move for Chelsea's teenage left-back Patrick Van Aanholt.

The Dutch Under-21 International impressed during a month long loan spell in January last year, when he deputised for injured first choice left back Jose Enrique.

It now appears that Newcastle boss Chris Hughton is keen on bringing the 19-year-old, who can also play on the left wing, back to St James' Park ahead of the new Premier League season.

It is not clear whether Hughton wants to sign the youngster on loan or permanently but any deal could rest on the future of Ashley Cole, who has been linked with a £30million move to Real Madrid.

Should Cole make the move to Spain then Chelsea may prefer to keep the young Dutchman at Stamford Bridge.

Annan Eyes English Move

Ghana midfielder Anthony Annan is hopeful of winning a move to the Premier League this summer.

A number of clubs have been linked with a move for Annan after he impressed at the World Cup with Ghana.

The likes of Chelsea and Manchester United have been credited with an interest in the Rosenborg ace and the 23-year-old admits he would be interested in a move to England or any major European league.

"I am keeping my fingers crossed, but I don't know the future yet," Annan told Sky Sports News.

"I am still playing and the transfer market is not over yet.

"I am just hoping one or two things happen before the close of the transfer market and just hoping good things will come out of that.

"I think if I have opportunity to play there [England] I would be very grateful. If not Germany, Italy, Spain, everywhere. I think I will be ready to play over there.

"My agent knows what's going on and I will have a meeting with him and discuss what is happening with my future."

Crewe Loanee Rhys Taylor Keen To Stay For Entire Season

Chelsea goalkeeper Rhys Taylor says he is keen to extend his two-month loan at Crewe Alexandra for the whole season.

Taylor, 20, told BBC Radio Stoke: "I would like to stay if the manager [Dario Gradi] wants to keep me.

"I want to have a good season with no injuries and I want to play as many games as I can for Crewe."

Taylor is likely to start the season as Crewe's number one goalkeeper while experienced stopper Steve Phillips recovers from a shoulder operation.

The Wales Under-21 international was recommended to the Alex by former Crewe first-team coach Steve Holland, who now takes charge of the reserve team at Chelsea.

"He's been great with some of the young players," added Taylor.

"It can be difficult at a club like Chelsea, dealing with young players who are getting upset because they're not playing.

"He's done well and he's been a massive part of getting me to this club."

Taylor, who has yet to make a first-team appearance for Chelsea or Queen's Park Rangers, where he spent six weeks on loan last season, has set his sights on eventually succeeding Petr Cech and becoming the number one goalkeeper at Stamford Bridge.

"It's a big target but I'm still only 20 and for a keeper that's only a baby," said Taylor.

"I want to get some experience and some league games. I've been playing in the reserves at Chelsea since I was 15 so I've been doing that for a while and I think it's time to step it up."

Profiling the Future - Daniel Sturridge

Sturridge signed for Chelsea in the summer of 2009 from Manchester City for a fee set by the tribunal at £3.5million. Sturridge from his very childhood was a football person. He signed for the Aston Villa Academy at just 8 years of age and spent 4 years with them before joining Coventry.

Even then Sturridge did things with the ball that much older kids could only dream of. City were so impressed by his work they paid £30,000 for the 13 year old to join their youth set-up.

A year later, aged just 14 he took part in the Nike Cup, the worlds greatest U-15 football tournament. He single-handedly led City to victory as he picked up both 'Player of the Season` and the 'Golden Boot` award.

Aged 16, in their 2005/2006 FA Youth Cup Sturridge scored 6 times (including 2 in the final) to help City finish runners up for the first time in 11 years.

Immediately drafted into the reserves by City he impressed mightily scoring 9 times in 6 games including a hat-trick. His first real impact for City came in his first start for the club in 2008/2009 as he scored 2 in 2 against Derby and Sheffield.

The English media began to rave about the performances of the young lad.

Despite continuing to impress as a City first team member he enjoyed having a part in their Youth Cup run and again finished top scorer, including a goal against the young blues in the final.

He made 16 league appearances meanwhile for City that year scoring 4 and making 3. He was voted their Young Player of the Year.

Sturridge, along with Turnbull, was one of the young Englishmen the blues decided to bring in. Upon his arrival Danny fit right in with the big names at the Bridge. He felt he was finally fulfilling his potential and upon his move he said:

'Chelsea is the right move for me, I have earned this chance. They already have great strikers in Anelka and Didier. One can learn a lot from such names.'

Sturridge came in with the right attitude and was rewarded for his efforts. He scored in pre-season on his debut against Seattle, set up perfectly by Anelka. He also proved a handful for Jose's Inter, winning a penalty that Lampard slotted home.

Sturridge was very impressive in the Reserves League for the blues scoring 6 times in 5 appearances. This however was nothing to his FA Cup run where he scored 4 times in 3 matches to help Chelsea make it to the semi-final.

He however did not get his chance to match the great Peter Osgood's record as he did not play any part in the semi or the final as Chelsea lifted the trophy. He was our top scorer.

In the League Danny was very impressive, showing his versatility in playing in several positions. He proved equally effective down the right, left or in the centre. His talent on the ball and pace proved tough for opposition to deal with and whenever he came on the tempo of the game usually went up a notch.

He scored his first Chelsea goal in the win over Stoke 7-0. It was the 6th as a perfect Didier pass was found by his agile feet and he delicately rounded the keeper Begovic and slotted home. His celebration was worth watching.

In a total of 13 Premier League appearances he scored once and had 3 assists. Danny, at 20 still has a long way to go in his career. The early signs suggest that he is a man gifted with insane quality and if he gets his chance, with as many appearances as some of the senior lads, he can easily cross the 20 goal mark.

Essien: Back For Good

Yesterday was the day for Michael Essien as the midfielder makes his long-awaited return from a knee injury.

The midfielder has not appeared in Chelsea colours since December, enduring a frustrating time on the sidelines while his team-mates lifted the Premier League and FA Cup Double and then headed to South Africa for the World Cup.

For the Ghanaian, it has been a summer of rehabilitation rather than relaxation, but the hard work looks to be paying dividends as he anticipates his return against Crystal Palace yesterday afternoon.

'I know now I will play, and it will be nice to have 45 minutes like the other guys to test my fitness,' said the 27-year-old. 'It feels good, it's been a long time but I am back in full training now, everything is good and there is no reaction from the training, so things are looking good for me.

'I didn't have any holidays because of my rehab, but it will be good to start up again and I am looking forward to the rest of the boys coming back as well.

'I'd love to have been there playing at the end of the season, it wasn't easy for me but I supported my team-mates to win their matches, that's all I could do. I became a supporter and to end the season with two trophies was amazing and I was enjoying it like everyone even though I didn't play the whole season.'

Essien acknowledges that being given the go-ahead today will mean he is one of the more senior players on show with the majority of his first team colleagues still on vacation.

'We're still waiting for the rest of the other players from the World Cup but we have a lot of good young players here as well,' he said.

'I think it's good to start the pre-season games with them and to see them play, so the manager can see how good they are. I think the club has a great future with those players and I can see in training they are doing well at the moment.'

While his team-mates were taking plaudits for their work on the field, Essien has been taking impressive steps off it - this week he has been announced as a peace ambassador for 2010 by the African Union.

'It's great to be appointed an ambassador in Africa and I am looking forward to working with them, I hope everything will go really well and I can help get the message across for peace in Africa,' Essien explained.

'They requested me to meet them for a meeting but I am busy with pre-season so one of my representatives is there for a meeting and will come back and talk to me about it soon. From now you will have to call me Ambassador Essien!'

With the prospect of seeing him back in Chelsea blue, this new title seems a very small price to pay.