Claudio Ranieri has indicated that there is still significant rebuilding to be done at Chelsea. The Italian has spent more than £110m on strengthening the team since the summer but said yesterday that he remains about eight players short of a squad that can dominate Europe.
That suggests a hectic period of comings and goings next summer, though Ranieri has been keen to get the ball rolling during this transfer window. He has tried to sign Scott Parker from Charlton, though Chelsea will have to increase their offer to £10-12m to capture the midfielder.
Ranieri has brought in 11 players since Roman Abramovich took over at Stamford Bridge and his desire for more than another half-dozen shows he feels the club have some way to go to meet the standards that their Russian owner would like.
"Roman Abramovich is very ambitious and he wants to put his club at the same level as Real Madrid," Ranieri was quoted as telling the Spanish media from La Manga, where his team has been training.
Borussia Dortmund's Tomas Rosicky, who has been linked with Chelsea, has said he intends to see out the season in Germany. He had been touted as a possible replacement for Juan Sebastián Verón, who has had back surgery that could rule him out forthe season.
Arsenal last night confirmed that Jose Antonio Reyes, the 20-year-old winger signed from Sevilla had passed his medical, and also revealed the details of the 4-year deal. They will pay a maximum £17.44m, made up of £7.1m in this financial year, £3.55m next year and up to £6.79m over the period of the deal, contingent on various factors.
Fulham have asked about the Sochaux striker Pierre-Alain Frau. The 23-year-old is among France's top scorers but a move is unlikely until the summer.
Tottenham's Jonathan Blondel is set to join Club Bruges on a 3-year contract. The 19-year-old Belgian midfielder has made only two Premiership appearances since ariving in 2002. Milenko Acimovic has completed a loan move from Spurs to Lille for the season.
