Carlo Ancelotti Claims Manchester City-Bound Mario Balotelli Was Never An Option

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admits Manchester City-bound Mario Balotelli was not part of his transfer plans this summer.

Balotelli, who is just hours away from completing his move from Inter to the Citizens, was linked with the Blues, but Ancelotti has offered a different view.

Asked by La Stampa whether the Italian was close to Chelsea at some point, Ancelotti said: "This doesn't result with me.

"City have spent the most in Europe and they will be fighting for the title. Mario is a crazy talent, but the Premier League is ideal for him.

"He will find Roberto Mancini, the coach that launched him in Serie A."

Ancelotti was asked what his aims are with Chelsea, and all eyes are on the Champions League.

"My first impact with Chelsea was winning the league, the FA Cup and Community Shield. I am missing the Champions League - that is my dream," he concluded.

Mourinho Keen To Sign Chelsea's Ricardo Carvalho

Jose Mourinho has publicly stated his admiration for Chelsea defender Ricardo Carvalho and indicated that he would like to sign the 32-year-old for Real Madrid.

Mourinho brought centre-back Carvalho to Stamford Bridge in 2004 and the Portuguese defender has been a mainstay of the Chelsea back four ever since.

However, there has been growing speculation that Carvalho could be set to join hid old mentor Mourinho at Real Madrid, especially with Chelsea having to comply with new Premier League rules to name a squad of only 25 players, meaning some will probably have to be sold.

Carvalho placed himself at the top of the list for a Chelsea exit, recently stating that he would go "swimming or running" to have the chance to move to the Bernabeau.

Now Mourinho has indicated that the enthusiasm for a deal is mutual. He told Spanish TV station TV1, "I always said that Carvalho is one of the best in the world."

When questioned about Carvalho's advancing years, Mourinho commented, "He is in the period of his greatest maturity."

On the prospects of Carvalho moving to Real Madrid, Mourinho did little to rule it out and coyly remarked, "We'll see what happens."

Blues Deny Mancienne Talk

Chelsea have denied reports that England Under-21 international defender Michael Mancienne has handed in a transfer request.

It looked as though the talented young centre-back was ready to call time on his career at Stamford Bridge after five years with the club.

Mancienne has started just two Premier League games for the Blues in his time in West London and has spent significant spells on loan with QPR and Wolves in the past four seasons.

Molineux boss Mick McCarthy has refused to rule out a move for the 22-year-old earlier in the day amid reports that he was on the market.

But a Blues spokesman confirmed to Sky Sports News that Mancienne has not asked to leave Chelsea this summer.

The defender could be more heavily involved in Carlo Ancelotti's plans this season due to the introduction of new squad rules for all Premier League clubs.

Each side must name a 25-man squad on 1st September, of whom eight have to be 'home-grown' criteria, which Mancienne would meet.

He has found first-team opportunities hard to come by with John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho and Alex all ahead of him in the pecking order.

Neymar Has No Reason To Leave Brazil - Father

Talented Brazilian youngster Neymar could snub Premier League champions Chelsea and remain with Santos beyond the summer, his father has claimed.

Neymar da Silva Santos has expressed his delight at his son eventually getting a call-up to the Brazilian national team for their upcoming friendly against the USA next month and has stated that the 18-year-old now has no reason to leave the country for England.

Chelsea had made a £20 million bid for the 18-year-old earlier this month but Santos officially rejected that offer. Neymar's father had expressed his anger at the Brazilian giants for not consulting him before making their decision, but it now appears that he would be happy to see his son remain in Brazil.

"His dream was to reach the Selecao playing for Santos," Neymar's father told TV Record Litoral. "This goal has been achieved. Therefore, I don't think there's a reason to think about leaving the country. That's why we will do everything we can for him to stay."

This is the first time that Neymar has been called to the senior side and Da Silva Santos explained just what it meant for his entire family.

"I didn't have the time to watch the squad announcement and because Neymar was training, we couldn't follow it together. But it was a day of great happiness. When I arrived home, the whole family celebrated.

"It's a shame that in that moment [before the World Cup] it was hard for him to be called-up, because of the previous coach [Dunga]. But today there's a renovation and this creates an expectation for the new players."

Carlo Ancelotti Hoping To Tie Up £17 Million Signing Of Benfica Midfielder Ramires Before Starting Pre-Season Tour Of Germany

Chelsea are keen to finalise their £17 million move for Benfica midfielder Ramires before leaving for the pre-season tour of Germany.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti’s squad will depart on Saturday and the Italian hopes that the Brazil international will join the team on the trip, according to the Daily Star.

However, the Portuguese club is reluctant to give up their midfield star, and the Blues could have to wait before they complete the signing of the Brazilian World Cup star.

Chelsea, who won the Premier League and FA Cup last season, have made just one signing this summer, bringing Liverpool winger Yossi Benayoun to Stamford Bridge for just £5 million.

After letting Michael Ballack and Joe Cole leave the club this summer, Chelsea sees Ramires as an ideal replacement in the midfield.

The Blues are also interested in Benfica defender David Luiz, but the Portuguese club rejected Chelsea’s initial bid of £25 million for the centre-back.

Kakuta On Reaching The Final!

Despite conceding an early goal, France U-19 managed to defeat the courageous Croatian team and book the place in UEFA European Under-19 Championship Final where they will meet Spain.

Exceptionally happy with that is Gaël Kakuta, who scored and equaliser, but is the one to be blamed for Croats taking the lead inside 4 minutes of the game.

Speaking afterwards Kakuta remarked,

'[I was scared] a little as it is because of me we conceded that goal. I miscontrolled the ball, and after that came a foul and the goal. We put pressure on our own shoulders by conceding early.'

The winning goal for France came courtesy of substitute Cédric Bakambu. The Sochaux player came off the bench in place of Yannis Tafer.

Here's what Kakuta had to say on both lads and atmosphere in French camp.

'Cédric did not give up. He scored his two goals in the first match but none in the second nor against England. He kept his chin up and continued working hard in training. This time he came on and scored so it all paid off. He and Yannis are two different styles of player. Cédric lays off the ball and goes while Yannis keeps it and looks for a one-two. [I get on well] with both of them. This is a very good group; everyone has fun with each other. A nice chemistry is born off the pitch and that makes things easy on it.'

Friday's Final brings chance to revenge for French, who were beaten by Spain in 2008 Under-17 Final. Many of those who experienced 4:0 trashing are now in U-19 team, prompting Kakuta to remark,

'Spain are not our old friends, they are our enemies. Two years ago they trashed us 4-0 so it will be a good revenge for us. They take good care of the ball and are very patient. We will try to work on that. It will be a good match. After what they did to us two years ago, everybody is looking forward to it.'

Where Is Slobodan Rajkovic

After scanning through the forums earlier, I came across a thread created by ThatShevchenkoGoal relating to our 21-year-old Centre Back.

After 3 seasons on loan and two Dutch Eredivisie titles under his belt, he's clearly ready for more challenges.

He's never made a first team appearance yet and with his old team mate Miroslav Stoch moving on to the Turkish league with Fenerbahce, he's perhaps tempted to be looking at another move away from Chelsea either on loan or permanently.

The question is though, where is he at the moment?

His loan contract was supposed to end in June and as he was not selected for the WC squad where has he gone?

Tipped as an upcoming strong center-back to partner John Terry once he returned to Chelsea, he now appears to be in a sort of limbo.

The question wasn't answered in the forum and as not all of our members check them regularly I thought I'd pose it on the front page.

Anelka: We Want Wins

Preparing for our five-day trip to Germany, Nicolas Anelka admits it is a pleasant change not to be away on tour for a fortnight.

The World Cup and the subsequent holidays of our involved players meant a lengthy trip overseas, as has become the norm in recent seasons, was not possible this time around, but instead the Frenchman will be joining his team-mates for a pair of friendlies, against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday and Hamburg on Wednesday.

'In my career tours have been a regular thing, going away, with Chelsea we have been to China and America, and with other clubs to Korea, Austria, Spain,' recalled the 31-year-old. 'I prefer to stay here at the training ground for longer, to train and go home.

'When you have kids and a family you want to see them, and it is great to be back in training and at the same time to be able to come home, like you are already in the season, but it will be good to be away together as a team for a few days, and I hope we can go there and come back with good results.'

It is a common belief that results do not matter in pre-season games, that building fitness is the only factor worth noting. But for Anelka, winning these matches ranks just as highly on the agenda.

'We have two games in Germany, so we play them and we want to win them, that's the most important thing. It is good to start in that way before the season, we have a good team and when you play for Chelsea you have to win all your games, so we will go there and try to come back with good results,' he explained.

'Training so far has been good and I feel fit, we worked very hard and it will be harder and harder until the beginning of the season.

'After a few days you want to be out playing matches again,' explained the forward, who reported back on July 22. 'I like my football so when I come back, I can't wait to be on the pitch and playing.

'I have been playing for so long and I still want to play and win every game. When you have this kind of mentality and play at this kind of club you want to play, enjoy your football and win your games.

'When we are back from Germany, we have the Community Shield which is a big game, but for the players the most important is to be fit for the first league game against West Bromwich Albion.'

There are just over two weeks until Roberto Di Matteo brings his newly promoted Baggies to Stamford Bridge for our Barclays Premier League curtain-raiser. Chelsea fans, like Anelka, will be hoping we enter that game with a series of wins already achieved.

Bridging The Generation Gap

The pre-season is traditionally a time when you see experienced first teamers playing alongside young, hopeful products of the Academy. The games at Crystal Palace and in Amsterdam bore witness to this.

But what about the interaction between the established and the upcoming throughout the rest of the year? It is a carefully considered area of player development at Chelsea, down to the careful logging of every training session an Academy player enjoys with Carlo Ancelotti's squad.

As Chelsea teenagers continue to make news on the international stage with Gael Kakuta tomorrow playing in the European Under 19s Championship Final, following on from Josh McEachran and Nathaniel Chalobah winning the Under 17 equivalent with England, and Jeffrey Bruma's call up by Holland, the Official Chelsea Website asked Academy manager Neil Bath (pictured below right) for an overview of how the relationship between his players and the first team set up works:

The Academy building is located just a short walk away from the first team headquarters but for a young player at Chelsea in 2010, how much interaction will he have with those over there?

'First of all, the interaction between the Academy and first-team staff is closer than it has ever been since I have been at the club. That is nothing against previous management, we just made a real conscious effort from the start with Carlo [Ancelotti] to come up with a one-club coaching program. That was the best way to start and we were working with [sporting director] Frank Arnesen's role between the two areas and that helps support it.

'Then in the last year we have had more players from the youth set up training on a daily basis with the first team than we have ever had. There is close working going on there.

'In terms of interacting with the first team, we believe that in the first two years - the Under 16s and Under 17s - interaction should be mostly for football reasons. They meet on the pitch. Occasionally we will have lunch over in the first-team building but the boys are reporting to the Academy, doing duties in the Academy and having lunch and breakfast together in the Academy.

'If some of them progress quicker and actually starts playing for the first team then that might change. But even Under 17s and Under 18s who are in the reserves will stay in the Academy building.

'Although that may not look like we are encouraging interaction, we want to encourage interaction for the right reasons. We have tried things like cleaning boots with the first team players but whatever way we looked into it, the logistics were difficult, particularly when we have programs just after lunch that are about doing more technical work with the players. We felt we can't let boot cleaning get in the way of the technical program.

'We do create a culture in the Academy building that the boys are responsible for some of the cleaning and tidying as part of their education and there is a lot we share with the first team set up.

'We are continually looking at each other's IT and video analysis systems and some of the development staff, including [assistant first team coach] Paul Clement and [first team fitness coach] Glen Driscoll have all been Academy people who have gone across. So there is a lot of interaction but we are conscious of holding the boys back a little bit from the first team set up, so they don't think they have made it too soon.

'It's about getting the balance right. The boys understand that and I feel in many ways they prefer that. They think that when I am a bit older - 19 or 20 - and I am training a bit more with the first team then I can mix socially.'

Might the increase in youth players training with the first team be down to improved quality as well as the club's policy to improve interaction?

'We said we would reorganise the Academy five or six years ago and it would take 10 years to really get it going. Six years in the standard has improved. We have invested in the whole Academy system - players, staff and resources - and therefore the standards have gone up.

'We have more Academy players playing internationally than we have ever had and more players training with the first team on a daily basis, so the standard has gone up.

'Two years ago we lost the Youth Cup Final, this year we won it. In our younger age groups, this year we won four tournaments in Europe. Five year ago I can't remember us winning any tournaments in Europe.'

If a young player wanted to seek advice from a first teamer who plays in his position, would that be possible?

'It is. Rather than myself going directly to players, we would use the relationship we have with Ray Wilkins and Clem and they will control that. Otherwise it can be chaos. If you ask a player to speak to a younger player, the support is first class. At the same time we need to respect their position. Without us needing to set up formal meetings, because the boys are training with them it is happening naturally.'

Do you notice effects from training with the first team, such as improvement in confidence and self-esteem?

'Definitely. The players notice the difference as well, and it is obviously the speed of the game. Mentally you have to be sharper and when they come back to the Academy, that is when they notice it. They have had say 10 sessions there and come back finding it a little bit easier here. That is when we realise they are moving on and pulling away from others. You see some go across and struggle and you see others and you think wow, he can play with good players.'

How encouraging was it to hear Carlo Ancelotti talk at the end of last season about Academy players joining his squad full time for this season?

'We talk about winning youth tournaments as progress and getting debuts and appearances, and getting lads out on loan, but ultimately it is all about getting players into the first team squad. When Carlo says maybe five lads in you start thinking okay, this year is really starting to show a light at the end of the tunnel because it has been difficult. We are getting there but we are still a way off.'