Grant: 

"I'm looking first for the right player, then we will discuss if the money is right to pay for him. I know each player I want for Chelsea will cost more than if other clubs want him.” 

“As a manager you can never sleep because you always need to make your team better, and if we find a player that will make our team better we will take him."  

We didn’t get off to the best of starts in the league – missing the likes of Ballack, Lampard and Drogba, then Terry, Malouda, Carvalho, Terry again, Drogba again… Then of course was the upset of losing our most successful manager in history – Jose Mourinho. 

It’s credit to the new continental management structure of Grant, Ten Cate and Clarke that we won our CL group, are in a cup semi and that we remain in touch with the leaders in the premier league despite all this upheaval and having played all our “top 4” rivals away (not too mention 2 more away games than both Man Utd and Arsenal so far). 

However, IF we are to stand a real chance of a 3^rd League title, we must seal up the current cracks with first class players. 

But who? 

How about this for a mix thrown in the pot? Anelka, Kenwyn Jones, Huntelaar, Berbatov, Van de Vaart, Benzema, Modric, Quaresema and…a certain Ronaldinho. 

Chelsea fans appear split over whether Ronaldinho would be the right signing given the Brazilian’s latest penchant for missing training and reported regular sampling of the Catalonian nightlife.  The last thing we want is a big time Charlie swanning around the west end and playing whilst unfit and overweight. 

Of course, even a 70% Ronaldinho can make a difference but after Shevchenko´s disappointing form, some fans are wary of getting burnt a second time by a galatico signing. 

Still, Ronaldinho could be trying to engineer an early exit with his antics.  It’s no secret that Abramovich spent a weekend with his agent (actually the player’s brother) during the summer.   We also know that the substantial tax break that foreign players have when joining a Spanish club is drawing to an end for Ronaldinho.

There is a further matter of a FIFA clause that allows players to buy themselves out near the end of their contracts but this is seen as a "phantom clause", and there is in effect an unwritten agreement among the major clubs not to risk using it – nobody wants to get stung themselves.  

Personally, I don’t think the Ronaldinho move will happen until next summer – despite the current rift between the player and Rijkaard I can’t see Barcelona letting him go now given that they have a champions league campaign still to consider. 

In any case, given the African Cup of Nations (ANC) and Drogba´s injury situation, it’s an out and out forward that is the most urgent necessity: 

Grant: 

'We will not find a replacement for Didier because Didier I think is the best striker in the world at the moment. But we want to have a striker in the squad and if we find someone, we will do it. 

'It will not be a problem of money; it will be a problem of quality. I don't want to take a striker who is not good for our quality. The right one is not easy to find." 

Anelka seems to be the choice most touted by the media – and it is the move that makes the most sense. 

Here is a player that is already accustomed to the Premier League, quick, strong, a proven goal scorer and at 28 years old, in his prime.  There are strong rumours that the deal is already done and I fully expect to see him arrive at the Bridge at the beginning of January. 

Of course, you just can’t sign Anelka and expect him to sit on the bench once Drogba is fit – or can you?  Whilst Anelka appears to have improved his attitude over recent seasons it should be recognised that both the Frenchman and Drogba can be a bit sulky.  We seem to be hell bent on 4-3-3 so it will interesting to see how the management team keeps both players happy. 

Kenwyn Jones of Sunderland has caught Chelsea fans eyes – whether Chelsea Football Club have noticed him or not is another matter. 

Jones reminds me so much of Drogba – decent coaching and some polishing could well give us a clone of our man from the Ivory Coast. 

I’d like to see us sign him anyway - even though he probably isn’t quite ready for us yet.  If we don’t then someone else will.  At the very least we should get a pre-contract agreement with him. 

Huntelaar, 24, had a prolific last season in the Dutch league having scored 33 goals in 31 games for Ajax.  Having said that, we did sign Kezman who despite having a more prolific record then Van Nistelrooy paled against his counterpart when later at Man Utd.  Still, we have a strong Dutch connection and no doubt they know the player very well. 

Berbatov?  I’ve a feeling he’s not in our plans unfortunately however, if Abramovich is hell bent on stylish football he has to be a must signing surely? 

Ok, so he’s a bit moody, accused of only turning it on for the big games but surely his motivation would increase dramatically playing for us?  This player has outrageous skill and is also available for the Champions League. 

Sadly, I don’t see it happening even though we wouldn’t have to pay in instalments as almost certainly Man Utd would have to in order to meet the Spurs asking price. 

I’ve a horrible feeling that we will rue the day as fans watch the Bulgarian light up Old Trafford as Cantona once did.

Benzema of Lyon is a young 20 year old jewel of French football.  He loves playing in 4-3-3 and can play as a striker or on the wing.  Thing is he is well aware of interest from big clubs around Europe and has reiterated his desire to stay with Lyon. 

Although he’d be a fantastic signing and fits the Chelsea tactics profile perfectly, I can’t see it happening until next summer once the current CL campaign is over.

I forgot David Villa didn´t I?  Well, not really.  We have already enquired after him but Grant has already stated that they want "too much" for him.  God knows how much they are asking? 40M I suppose.

Thing is, we usually play 4-3-3 and as a lone striker he wouldn´t work.  Unless there was a major shift in tactics and we went 4-4-2 regularly then...then Drogba and Villa would be mouth watering.

Villa has already publicly stated that he wants out of Valencia but given the previosuly mentioned I don´t see it happening (which means that "it" probably will!)

That finishes the possibilities of forwards so now onto midfielders:

Modric, at 22, is a midfielder who plays for Dynamo Zagreb and has caught the eye impressing in Europe; Very creative, accurate passing, a lot of stamina, offensive and not averse to getting back to defend and possesses a powerful shot despite his lightweight frame.  All in all, he appears to be a turbo version of Fabregas.

This lad is class and would be the ideal replacement for either Lampard or Ballack eventually.  Given his young age, he may well be willing to accept rotation – hope we get this one!

Grant recently spoke on transfers: 

'The reason we took other players in the summer is we thought about the African Cup of Nations.” 

'We also have Michael Ballack coming back and in the next two weeks I think he will start to play. Even with the African Nations, we do not want to take players that will not be good for us in the long term.'

I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up with Anelka and Modric out of that little lot but a lot depends on the asking price including the inevitable “Chelsea Tax” – still, I’m obviously speculating on these players – we will see…

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

Related Articles:

• "Ronnie" to Chelsea? No! Stop it!
• The Alves Poker Game Continues?

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

Chelsea F.C. Poll