Lampard: Why Are England Playing This Game?

Frank Lampard says next Wednesday's England friendly is an unwanted distraction.

Fabio Capello's men face Hungary just three days before the Premier League kick-off.

And Lamps said: "It's obviously not an ideal situation.

"I've only been back in pre-season training for a week and a half and a lot of clubs are having the same problems with their World Cup players.

"All the teams want to get players fit for the start of the season.

"But England also need to prepare for the European Championship qualifying games.

"Right now I'm just excited to be back at Chelsea.

"But the Hungary match has always been there on the calendar so as a professional playing for your country you go and you play."

Capello names his England squad for the match tomorrow night but will run a final check on Lampard and his Chelsea team-mates in Sunday's Community Shield clash with Manchester United.

Marseille Interested In Re-Signing Drogba

Marseille are stepping up their bid to sign a high profile striker to aid their Champions League push.

The current Ligue 1 champions are considering three players according to reports from France; Chelsea’s Didier Drogba, Fiorentina’s Alberto Gilardino and Ajax’s Luis Suarez.

The Stade Velodrome outfit feels they have the funds to bag at least one of these high profile targets according to La Provence.

Currently only a concrete asking price is known for Gilardino, with Fiorentina wanting €15M to allow their Italy international to depart.

Didier Deschamps’ team could yet lose Mamadou Niang, despite stating that they did not wish to sell their striker. Turkish giants Fenerbahce remain interested and Niang would welcome the move.

Chelsea Go For Coentrao And Will Let Ashley Leave

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti will let Ashley Cole move to Real Madrid - as he closes in on his replacement, £16m rated Portugal World Cup star Fabio Coentrao.

Cole has pestered Ancelotti for the past week about being allowed to quit Stamford Bridge and England - and now Chelsea have decided to open the exit door.

The double winners are in talks with Benfica about both Coentrao and Brazilian David Luiz.

Reports in Portugal claim they have made an offer for Luiz, who also plays centre half, but Chelsea insiders claim converted winger Coentrao is also on their wanted list.

Chelsea have landed Brazilian midfielder Ramires from Benfica and may yet take two more team-mates - especially if Ricardo Carvalho also gets his wish to go to Real.

Coentrao stood out in the finals in South Africa, and is emerging as the best possible replacement for want-away Cole.

And as Jose Mourinho waits for England number three Cole, poised to offer £25 million, Chelsea have made the first moves to fill the gaps.

Coentrao, 22, has been a revelation at full back since Benfica pushed him into the new role and Carlos Queiroz picked him for Portugal where he has excelled in his eight appearances.

Luiz can play centre half and tried the left back role but without much success.

However his versatility and age make him an asset.

Chelsea are confident that they can land Conetrao and possibly Luiz although the final fees will leave a big dent in their budget.

Selling Cole will recoup around £25 million. He has been chased by Mourinho since he landed his dream job at Madrid.

Chelsea tried to convince him to stay - but are now looking for the right man to fill his boots.

Jose Mourinho To Use Real Madrid Striker Karim Benzema As Bait To Get Chelsea Left-Back Ashley Cole

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho could offer Karim Benzema to Chelsea as part of the package to acquire Ashley Cole.

With the Blues missing out on Liverpool star Fernando Torres, Chelsea could be keen to improve their strike force, and Real are prepared to offer the France international and cash for Cole, according to the Daily Mail.

The England international is looking to reunite with former Blues boss Mourinho, and the Portuguese is desperate to strengthen the left-back position with one of the finest in the world.

But Mourinho may struggle to prise Cole from Stamford Bridge, with Ancelotti saying earlier this week that the 29-year-old would not be leaving under any circumstances.

Benzema move to Real from Lyon for £36 million last year, choosing to move to Spain instead of Manchester United, who were also interested in a move for the Frenchman.

Despite the big move to the La Liga giants, Benzema struggled in his first season with his new club, scoring only eight goals under former manager Manuel Pellegrini.

His poor season led to Raymond Domenech leaving him out of the France team that endured a disastrous World Cup campaign this summer, and the 22-year-old is keen to bounce back this season.

Swansea Keen On Chelsea Winger Scott Sinclair

Swansea City are keen to bring Chelsea winger Scott Sinclair to the club, chairman Huw Jenkins has confirmed.

Newly appointed Swans boss Brendan Rodgers worked with Sinclair during his time at Chelsea and it is hoped this could help sway the 21-year-old’s decision.

Although displaying enough potential to persuade Chelsea to sign him as a 16-year-old, Sinclair has failed to establish himself at Stamford Bridge and has been linked with a move away this summer, with Swansea keen to move in.

"We have spoken to Chelsea about Scott," Jenkins confirmed in the South Wales Evening Post.

"Brendan obviously knows him pretty well from his time at Chelsea and we hope that could play a part in Scott's decision.

"The next step is to try to make contact with the player. If something was to happen, though, we're not sure whether it would take a few days or a few weeks."

Jenkins also commented on the status of right-back Angel Rangel, who was subject to a bid from Blackpool recently.

"I've not spoken to anyone at Blackpool since we turned down their offer. I'm not sure if they will phone us again regarding Angel, but he is a player we are not looking to sell.

Ramires Thanks Gilberto Silva & Julio Baptista For Advising Him To Make Move To Chelsea

Ramires credited former Arsenal players Gilberto Silva and Julio Baptista for helping him make the decision to join Chelsea this summer.

The Brazil World Cup star is on the verge of completing a £18.3 million move from Benfica, who he helped win the Portuguese Liga title last season.

The 23-year-old had trouble deciding whether to join the defending Premier League champions, but international team-mates Silva and Baptista convinced him that a move to England was the right move to make.

“Gilberto, Julio Baptista and others gave me confidence by insisting I must accept this chance,” Ramires told The Sun.

"In the end the Chelsea proposition was impossible to reject - not just because of the money but the chance to spend every day at one of the best clubs in the world.

"As a boy in Brazil I watched the Premier League and I remember how Chelsea and Manchester United played such attractive football.

"This summer has been a dream - the Portuguese title with Benfica, the call of Brazil, the World Cup and now the jump into the Premier League."

Lampard Leading The Way

Frank Lampard has set his number one priority as defending our Barclays Premier League crown, but acknowledges there is still work to be done before the season starts.

The England midfielder was one of 11 Chelsea players at the World Cup over the summer, and only returned to pre-season duty last week, quickly taking in two games as we ended our pre-season preparations with narrow defeats in Frankfurt and Hamburg.

Now, with competitive football just two days away when we face Manchester United, Lampard admits there is still progress to be made on the training ground, but he aims to be fully operational by the time West Brom visit Stamford Bridge for the first day of the league season next Saturday.

'Obviously we're not going to be quite there yet, but that's what it is this pre-season. I think a lot of clubs are having the same problem, trying to get players who played in the World Cup fit as quick as possible,' said the 32-year-old.

'My main concern is to be fit for the first game of the season. We haven't had the best results but it's normal because a lot of big players for us have came back late, the important thing is what happens when the business starts on Sunday and next week.'
Lampard has found returning to Chelsea after England's disappointing World Cup a pleasure as he reflects on winning the Double last season, and is determined to repeat our success this time around.

'It's almost a breath of fresh air to come back to Chelsea, we won the Double last year and there's no negative mental effect from that at all. It's exciting to be back,' he smiled. 'The rest [after World Cup elimination] was about a month, and I was ready to be back by the time it came around.'

One player who has a full pre-season under his belt is Michael Essien, and from his performances it seems as though the Ghanaian is reaping the rewards.

'He's like a new signing, he has had two years where he has hardly played because he has had terrible injuries,' Lampard acknowledged. 'He's been a huge loss, you can never underestimate what a player like Michael Essien can do in your squad.

'He's one of the best players around in any position he plays in, I think we need that because we've lost a few players.'

Carlo Ancelotti's presence for a second year is also cause to smile, believes the man who now enters his 10th season as a Chelsea player.

'It's very nice, he obviously fitted in very quickly last year and the players respect it. Everyone understands he's a very good man and the way he works looks very decent from the outside, and he was obviously brilliant for us.

'It's nice to carry on building with that and we all hope we can reach the heights of last season again. It probably won't be - we probably won't score as many goals but if we can go and win the league, I don't really care how we win it. Every year the challenge gets harder,'[but] I'd like to defend the league first and foremost, that's my priority.'

Carlo Ancelotti: We Aren't Ready For The New Premier League Season

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti has confessed that his team is not fit for the start of the Premier League campaign.

The defending champions lost their third straight pre-season match, losing to Hamburg 2-1 on Wednesday.

Ancelotti admits that his returning World Cup stars are fighting to be fully prepared to face West Bromwich Albion in their August 14 Premier League opener.

"Some players are in good condition but others need more time,” Ancelotti told The Sun.

"The 10 players that only came back to us on July 26 need to have another two weeks of work.

"After just eight days of training it is impossible to be fit.

"We are all disappointed because we have lost three games consecutively so it's not a good start for us.

"Now we have to hope we can come back with a win against Manchester United in the Community Shield on Sunday."

Goals from Mladen Petric and Heung-Min Son in the second half, led the Bundesliga side past the Blues, who lost the previous two pre-season games to Ajax and Eintracht Frankfurt as well.

Michael Essien helped Chelsea take the lead, stealing the ball from Jonathan Pitripa and feeding Frank Lampard, who was left with a simple tap-in to make the score 1-0 for the Blues.

However, Petric took advantage of a terrible backpass from Yuri Zhirkov to score the equalizer, and with just three minutes remaining Son rounded Ricardo Carvalho and beat goalkeeper Ross Turnbull to give the German club a 2-1 victory.

Ancelotti insists that the defence must improve if Chelsea are going to repeat as Premier League champions this season.

"In the past the defence has given out a lot of confidence - but now we are losing some concentration.

"We have made mistakes and now we have to show more character.

"But even if some of our players are not fit, they still have a good presence on the pitch.

"Maybe it's not so important that Lampard and Terry are 100 per cent fit at the start of the season because they have that presence and they will do better. They just need more time playing."

Yury Zhirkov Lined Up By Zenit St Petersburg For £21m Swoop

Zenit St Petersburg are considering a £21million bid to take Chelsea defender Yury Zhirkov back to Russia.

The 26-year-old endured a torrid first season at Stamford Bridge, struggling with injuries in both knees and making just 10 Premier League starts following an £18.6m move from CSKA Moscow.

Chelsea agreed to sign Zhirkov before Carlo Ancelotti arrived and the Russia international has struggled to fit into his manager’s plans.

He has mostly been used as Ashley Cole’s understudy, despite forging a reputation at CSKA as an attacking left winger.

Runaway Russian Premier League leaders Zenit would give Zhirkov a prominent role as they build a side for the Champions League and are also on the brink of signing Porto captain Bruno Alves for £18.2m.

Zhirkov refused to comment, saying he was only focused on being fit for the new season with Chelsea.

‘I can say that I am a Chelsea player and it’s a great honour to play for the club,’ he said.

‘The knee is not a worry. The competition in our club for places is great. But I really want to play and will do everything I can to break into the team.’

Ramires Explains Chelsea Switch

Benfica and Brazil midfielder Ramires has urged his current club's supporters to understand why he has chosen to leave Lisbon to join Chelsea.

The 23-year-old is poised to complete a big-money switch to Stamford Bridge, with a fee of around £18million having been agreed between the two clubs.

Ramires told A Bola after opting to leave the Portuguese champions: "I hope everyone understands this decision. This is football and this outcome is good for the club and for me.

"I love this club. I took Benfica into my heart. I am very happy. I will never forget how I got here, where I was a champion, where I improved and I was very happy. It was a wonderful year.

"I hope that everyone understands that it was a very good opportunity for me on a personal, sporting and financial level."

France Under-19 Skipper Gueida Fofana Urges Chelsea & Liverpool To Bid For Him

France under-19 skipper Gueida Fofana has urged Chelsea and Liverpool to snap him up from Le Havre.

The defensive midfielder was at the heart of Les Blues victory in last weekend's U19 European Championship Final victory against Spain. After inspiring his team-mates to victory, the Premier League pair and Barcelona have been linked with sweeping him up from the Ligue 2 outfit where he has just one year to run on his contract.

Speaking to skysports.com, Fofana declared he was ready to try his hand at a major European heavyweight.

He said: "I am feeling great after winning the Euros, we played really well and deserved to win.

"I have heard that there are teams interested in me, but nothing concrete has come out as yet.

"If I have to leave here [Le Havre], I want to make sure it is on good terms."

Bertrand Makes Forest Loan Switch

Championship outfit Nottingham Forest has signed highly-rated young Chelsea left-back Ryan Bertrand on a six-month loan deal.

Bertrand, who celebrates his 21st birthday today, is widely regarded as one of the game's top young prospects.

He is renowned for his attacking ability having been converted from an orthodox winger.

Bertrand has been at Chelsea for five years following an initial £125,000 move from Gillingham.

In 2006 he signed professional forms at Stamford Bridge and has gathered Football League experience during loan spells at Bournemouth, Oldham, Norwich and Reading, where he was a regular in the side last season.

Killie Swoop For Young Blues Star

Kilmarnock have completed their second signing of the summer after Chelsea agreed to loan out their young left-back Ben Gordon until January.

Gordon, 19, follows in the footsteps of Portuguese winger David Silva, who joined on a two-year deal.

A statement released by the Ayrshire club said: "Kilmarnock Football Club is delighted to announce that Chelsea reserve team player Ben Gordon has signed a short-term loan with the club.

"Ben is an England U17 international [and] has been under contract with Chelsea since 2007.

"Everyone at the club extends a warm welcome to Ben and wishes him every success during his time at Rugby Park."

Anelka Recalls Domenech Row

Nicolas Anelka has described what happened during his infamous row with Raymond Domenech and said the former France manager was wrong to play him out of position.

Les Bleus endured a shambolic World Cup campaign, not only making an early exit after failing to win any of their group games but also struggling to stay unified off the field.

Anelka was sent home following a dressing room bust-up with Domenech at half-time during the 2-0 defeat to Mexico, with reports suggesting he had launched a foul-mouthed tirade at the coach.

The striker never denied ranting at Domenech but took French sports daily L'Equipe to court for libel after it printed details of the altercation, accusing the newspaper of distorting his words.

"I'd like to see Domenech confessing to the world that I didn't use those words," Anelka said.

"I wish he had the honesty to say it, and to say it to his mum too."

Anelka believes Domenech, who has since been replaced by Laurent Blanc, 'should be ashamed' after making a 'casting mistake'.

The Chelsea man was disappointed at being told to stay in the penalty area when he feels one of his main strengths is to drop deep.

"My biggest regret is that I was not given the chance to play in my best position," said Anelka.

"If the coach wanted to take a player which stays in the box, he shouldn't have picked me. He made a casting mistake."

In an interview with France Soir, Anelka went into more detail about what happened at half-time of the Mexico clash.

He said: "We returned to the dressing room and, for five minutes, the players talked. The coach arrived and said to me: 'Damn, Nico, I've told you to stop dropping back and stay up front'.

"I told him if I stay there, I do not get a touch of the ball, and said: 'Stop telling me to stay up front. I won't stay up front'.

"It carried on, but at that moment my head was gone. I wasn't even listening to what he said."

Domenech's immediate reaction, Anelka claims, was to dismiss him from the squad despite the efforts of captain Patrice Evra to pacify both parties.

"He said: 'Go, its fine, leave' and asked one of his assistants to get Dede (Andre-Pierre Gignac) ready," Anelka continued.

"I said: 'No problem, deal with your team'.

"Pat (Evra) and Franck (Ribery) were next to me and they said: 'Stop, Nico, calm down. Let it go, shut up!'

"Then Pat asked me to put my jersey back on and said to the coach that these things happen all the time, that he should not react on a whim and make me leave.

"Again, the coach didn't listen and made his changes."

Chelsea In New Partnership With Singha Beer

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the signing of Singha Beer as the club's official beer sponsor.

The four-year deal will see the Thai beer company become a platinum partner of the club, following the most successful season in our history that saw us win both the Premier League title and the FA Cup in May.

Singha Beer is produced by Boonrawd Brewery and was the first beer to be brewed by a Thai. The premium lager is a full-bodied, 100 percent barley malt beer with strong hop characteristics and a rich taste. It was introduced internationally in the 1970s and has been synonymous worldwide with Thailand since. It is now available in nearly 50 countries.

Singha Beer will be sold exclusively across the Stamford Bridge venue including stadium kiosks, bars, restaurants and hotels from the start of the 2010/11 season.

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay said: 'We are excited to welcome Singha Beer as our official beer partner for the club.

'It is the leading beer brand in Thailand and will help us to reach out to our rapidly growing fan base in Asia-Pacific. We are certain that Singha Beer will be an excellent partner for the club.'

Santi Bhirom Bhakdee, chief executive of Boonrawd Brewery added: 'It is a glorious leap forward for Singha Corporation to join hand in hand with Chelsea Football Club, a club that thirsts for victory and accomplishment.

'We are certain that this strategic alliance will propel both organizations to new levels of prosperity.'

The deal represents another addition to Chelsea's successful platinum level partners which includes Thomas Cook, EA Sports and 188BET.

Bringing Happiness To Hamburg

As part of the squad's visit to Hamburg this week, they met with a group of 15 children from the city's Center for Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery.

Prior to the game at the Imtech Arena on Wednesday, the group of children, all of who have had heart surgery, arrived at the team hotel to meet their heroes for a signing session, and were each treated to a Blues goodie bag to take away as a souvenir of the day.

There may have been a few more Hamburg shirts than Chelsea ones, but that didn't stop the enjoyment from both players and kids alike.

Blues Still In The Market

Carlo Ancelotti has revealed he will look to complete two more signings before the close of the transfer window as Chelsea close in on the signing of Benfica midfielder Ramires.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has reined in his spending in recent times but, with Michael Ballack, Joe Cole and Juliano Belletti all leaving the club on free transfers this summer, Ancelotti feels replacements for all three are a necessity.

"We are not in any hurry," he told Sportske Novosti. "We have the whole of August to complete deals. The strategy of the club is clear. Compared to last season, we have lost Belletti, Ballack and Joe Cole, so we will add three players in these positions. So far, we've brought in [Yossi] Benayoun from Liverpool."

With the departure of right-back Belletti, Chelsea have been linked with a move for Shakthar Donetsk and Croatia defender Darijo Srna, 28, to fill the gap.

Asked if Srna was among his targets, Ancelotti said: "I understand your curiosity as a journalist, but I must stress that I cannot give you the names of players Chelsea are interested in signing."

Asked if he wished Sportske Novosti to issue a denial that Chelsea want Srna, he said: "No - I don't want to deny that we are tracking an interesting player."

Chelsea Aim To Push Through £18m Signing Of Brazil Midfielder Ramires

Chelsea have agreed a fee of £18m (€22m) with Benfica to buy the Brazil midfielder Ramires and they intend to push him through a medical at the club before confirming his signing by the end of the week.

But there remains some concern at Stamford Bridge over whether the 23-year-old will qualify for a work permit at the first time of asking. The regulations state a player must have appeared in 75% of his country's internationals over the past two years, and Ramires falls short of this requirement.

Chelsea may have to appeal to obtain a permit under the special-circumstances ruling. Ramires appeared for Brazil at the World Cup finals in South Africa, catching the eye in the last-16 victory over Chile, and he is rated as one the continent's most promising young players.

His arrival would mean Carlo Ancelotti, the Chelsea manager, has to get rid of one of the 17 senior overseas players in his squad to comply with the Premier League's new rules. The odd man out is likely to be the midfielder Deco, who is tipped to move to Fluminense in his native Brazil.

It is unlikely Ramires will be a Chelsea player in time for Sunday's Community Shield against Manchester United and Ancelotti said his first-choice goalkeeper Petr Cech will not be fit for the fixture at Wembley. The Czech international will not have recovered from a torn calf muscle. Ancelotti added that Cech will not be available for the Czech Republic's friendly against Latvia next week.

Ancelotti hopes Cech will be ready for the opening game of the Premier League season, at home to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday week, but he will have to play either Henrique Hilário or Ross Turnbull against United, both of whom have looked shaky in pre-season. The defender Alex, who also has a calf injury, should be fit for West Brom.

Didier Drogba is set to play his first minutes of the pre-season against Hamburg, following his return to training after a minor operation on a groin. The Ivory Coast international carried the problem, which has been referred to as a "sportsman's hernia", in the final matches of last season. Ancelotti intends to play his Community Shield line-up against Hamburg.

Carlo Ancelotti Left Dazzled By His Rising Stars

Chelsea are expected to field a near full-strength team against Hamburg in Germany as manager Carlo Ancelotti turns his pre-season preparations up a notch.

The Double winners take on Manchester United on Sunday in the Community Shield and the names gracing Wembley should be the ones that Stamford Bridge regulars are used to. John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole and Didier Drogba should all feature in the Imtech Arena and then against Sir Alex Ferguson's team.

Yet, Ancelotti is more excited about the youngsters he will have sitting on the bench. Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore has accepted partial blame today for the failure of the England team at the World Cup. “We want the England manager to be spoilt for choice,” he said when referring to the lack of talent that coach Fabio Capello had at his disposal this summer.

But while Academies at clubs in the Premier League are not producing young English talent at a rate fast enough to keep the critics off Capello's back, his fellow Italian Ancelotti could not be happier with the production line at Cobham.

Jeffrey Bruma, Josh McEachran and Billy Clifford all appeared in the team that won the FA Youth Cup last season and have all had big roles to play in Chelsea's pre-season.

All started in the defeat by Ajax and Bruma and McEacharan have been joined on the current two-match tour of Germany by three other academy products, Patrick van Aanholt, Gael Kakuta and Fabio Borini.

New rules this season stipulate each club must nominate a squad list of a maximum 25 players for Premier League action, eight of which must be home grown' — that is someone who has been registered for any club in England or Wales for a period of three years while under 21. This number can be supplemented by any registered players under the age of 21.

So far Yossi Benayoun is the only new face through the door and Brazilian Ramires — work permit providing — will join him, with Michael Ballack, Juliano Belletti and Joe Cole all having left the club.

That will put the emphasis on Ancelotti's youngsters but the manager is not worried.

“It is the same thing as in the Champions League so we are not surprised about this and this rule can improve the Academies in the clubs,” he said.

“I don't think we have a difficulty to put a squad in. We have the right number of foreign players.

“I am happy because it is important for our Academy — they are very good players, they need to stay with us and will have more chances this year.

“I know them very well. We followed them for the last year and it is the time for them to be involved in the squad. I don't know how many games they can play this season but we need to have these young players in our squad.”

The dilemma for Capello is the wording of the new rules which mean any Academy products do not have to be English. While McEachran (Oxford) and Clifford (Slough) are local enough, Bruma (Holland), Van Aanholt (Holland), Kakuta (French) and Borini (Italy) only demonstrate how good Chelsea's scouting network now is across Europe.

There is more hope, though, in that 12 out of 23 players listed on the club's website as being in Chelsea's Academy for this season are English.

One young player expected to make the grade at Chelsea is 17-year-old midfielder Josh McEachran.

A regular youth international, McEachran played a key role in England's Under-17 European Championship triumph this summer, scoring in the group stages against Czech Republic and impressing against Spain in the Final.

Comfortable on the left or in the middle, McEachran was one of the Chelsea's finest performers in their FA Youth Cup Final win against Aston Villa last season.

Manager Carlo Ancelotti is a confirmed admirer and handed McEachran, who joined the club as an eight-year-old, a squad number last January (51) and invited him to travel with the first team for last season's Carling Cup tie at Blackburn.

He has continued progressing during pre-season and has been involved in all three Chelsea games so far as they build towards the new campaign and their defence of the Premier League title.

McEachran started alongside established first-team players Michael Essien and Jon Obi Mikel against Crystal Palace last month and again against Dutch giants Ajax in Amsterdam. He also replaced Florent Malouda after 58 minutes against Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.

There is genuine belief at Stamford Bridge that the talented teenager can make the next step and become a regular first-team squad member.

Ferreira Hopes For Chelsea Chance

Chelsea defender Paulo Ferreira says he is looking forward to getting more games under his belt ahead of the new season.

The Blues launch the defence of their Premier League title next Saturday but first face arch rivals Manchester United in the Community Shield on Sunday.

Ferreira has been on extended leave following his involvement in the World Cup finals for Portugal and Wednesday's friendly against Hamburg represents only his second outing of pre-season.

And despite the first competitive match of the season on the horizon, Ferreira says he would rather be on the pitch in an attempt to regain full fitness.

"It is important that we get to play against Hamburg, we want to start the season well," Ferreira explained to the club's official website. "And after this game we still have a few days to work really well for Manchester United on Sunday.

"It is another important game and we want to be in good shape. The group is like it always is, everybody is happy and we are doing a good pre-season so far.

"I am feeling much better, us players who came from the World Cup started after the others but we have worked hard to catch up and after one week of work you begin to feel much better."

The 31-year-old's involvement in the World Cup means time off has been scarce for the right-back, who helped the Blues to the Premier League title last season.

But Ferreira says he is grateful to have had a holiday while his colleagues were reporting back for pre-season training early.

He added: "It was a short summer, but for the ones not involved in the World Cup it was a long break. But we cannot complain, we had 25 days of holiday, it is not bad.

"I had wonderful holidays and tried to enjoy them as much as I could, and now I am ready to start again.

"I went to the south of France and home to Portugal, and I did nothing, I just wanted to enjoy it after the Premiere League and World Cup.

"When you have a break you want to relax and be with the family, the kids, and enjoy it until the last day. Now it is time for work again."

And following his recuperation, the former Porto man is eager to be a regular fixture in Carlo Ancelotti's starting line-up.

"I will work hard all season and try to enjoy every match that I get," said Ferreira. "Of course I would like to play more than last season, and help the team to win trophies."