William Gallas has launched a stinging criticism of his manager Claudio Ranieri and the Chelsea chairman Ken Bates, a public show of dissent that will prompt a scramble for his signature among the Premiership's other Champions League qualifiers, led by Arsenal.
The 25-year-old, currently with the France squad at the Confederations Cup, declared himself "unhappy" at what he perceives as a lack of ambition at Stamford Bridge and confirmed his reluctance to sign a new contract, a deal which would increase his reported £20,000-a-week salary significantly.
"I'm not happy - either with the team management or with the chairman Ken Bates - which makes it difficult for me to stay," said Gallas, who will meet his agent Pape Diouf after the tournament draws to a close this week even though his current contract does not expire until 2006.
"Maybe I will still be a Chelsea player at the start of the season, but I don't think so," he said. "I need to talk with my people. I'm just not very happy at Chelsea. I have to talk to Ranieri but that can only be once I get back to London. They have offered me a new one but I haven't signed it. I don't know whether I will stay or not."
Arsenal, whose manager Arsène Wenger has been following the France team as a commentator for the television channel TF1, will do their utmost to persuade Gallas his future lies in north London. The defender cost Chelsea £6.2m from Marseille two years ago but, with Ranieri having to generate his own funds to strengthen his side for the return to Europe's elite competition, a fee of around £8m could secure his services.
Wenger's urgency will have been increased by his principal defensive target Philippe Mexes' continuing legal struggle with Auxerre, where he seems increasingly likely to stay until the beginning of next season. Furthermore, Gallas has two years of Premiership experience which should smooth his passage into the Arsenal first-team.
However, Newcastle would match any financial package put together by the Premiership runners-up, with Sir Bobby Robson a long-term admirer. Manchester United, similarly keen to recruit at the back, may also be tempted by a player who has generally excelled at Chelsea over the past two years.
He will be missed keenly at Stamford Bridge, even if the former Caen and Marseille defender's relationship with Ranieri has frequently verged on the fractious. The centre-half's disaffection stems from his inability to retain a regular place in the middle. He was outstanding alongside his international team-mate Marcel Desailly in the centre at the start of last season but, when John Terry regained full fitness, he endured less convincing stints in both full-back positions.
Even so, with 89 appearances in two years behind him, the verbal assault was something of a surprise coming just days after he had insisted, on his personal website, that the incessant speculation surrounding his future "just makes me laugh". Perhaps tellingly, however, he added that he was gauging Chelsea's ambitions in the transfer market before pledging his future to the club.
"I was waiting to see what Chelsea would offer me and what players they would bring into the club," he said. "I want to be competing for the title next season and winning trophies. So I told them that if they couldn't offer me that, I'd want to leave." Now, it appears, his patience has run out.
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