£27m Essien Will Join Chelsea This Week

[Shivek]

Chelsea remain quietly confident they can land Michael Essien in the next few days although the club are taking nothing for granted in a transfer saga which has rumbled on for most of the summer.

Chief executive Peter Kenyon will almost certainly depart for France in the next 48 hours as the Barclays Premiership champions continue their relentless pursuit of the 22-year-old Ghanaian international.

The long-running battle to convince Lyon to sell the midfielder has been afflicted by more twists than an Alfred Hitchcock thriller. But it appears to have finally dawned on the French champions that Essien no longer has any desire to play for the club.

Club president Jean-Michael Aulas has been the biggest barrier to a swift conclusion from his reluctance to drop below the ludicrously high valuation of £31million to his almost daily rhetoric on how Chelsea were destroying their chances of landing the player by their failure to close the deal to his satisfaction.

Aulas then insisted on handing Chelsea a deadline and then declaring that, in his eyes at least, any chance of a deal with the Londoners would not go ahead.

Yet two days later, Aulas was forced to pick up the telephone and contact Chelsea's billionaire owner Roman Abramovich, who with splendid and probably pre-determined irony, was holidaying close by in St Tropez.

The meeting between the two was certainly not secret and was held with the full backing and knowledge of Kenyon, who had been continuing dialogue with the French club despite the verbal posturing delivered daily by Aulas.

It had been a brief yet brutal conversation with the Ghanaian player which finally brought Aulas back to the main negotiating table.

Aulas had decreed, via yet another of his outbursts, that he would keep Essien by offering the player a massive pay rise and a contract which would tie him to Lyon until 2009.

What Aulas had clearly failed to establish before he allowed his words to be electronically despatched around the world, was to ascertain whether the player would be at all interested in staying under those terms.

When Aulas did get around to asking the right questions to the man in the middle of the saga, he found Essien, not surprisingly, in an uncompromising mood.

Talks remain ongoing but as so often in this long-running saga, the outcome may still be to close to call given Aulas' propensity for knee-jerk reactions.

But in London, as in France, Chelsea continue to work diligently to bring an end to the marathon affair and would now appear to be closer than ever before given Essien's refusal to discuss a new contract at Lyon.

Coach Jose Mourinho will be delighted to get his man but he is unlikely to figure at Wigan this weekend even if they do manage to reach an agreement with Aulas.

Mourinho has steadfastly remained confident he would get his man even after Aulas declared there was no chance of a deal earlier this week.

The Portuguese coach wants the youngster to bolster his midfield and his acquisition will be Chelsea's final move into the transfer market until the window opens again in January.

Chelsea just has too much money and too many world-class players! They buy players worth 13 million for 27 million so what do u expect teams like Man Utd and Arsenal to do?

[ProfessorFart]

At the end of the day they can only play 11 men. Look at Real Madrid and their dismal on field returns in financial output to on field success. They are becoming a joke.

Teams will quickly learn that money doesn't not and never will buy the qualities which make a truly great side. You can buy the odd Premiership or two as did Blackburn but at the end of the day that vital team spirit is something that can not be bought.

Chelsea will realise that a time will come when flinging cash around at every player who has a half decent game in the Champion's League is just not enough and something more is needed. Thats when we will really see how good Moanhinio is.

[Sarpedon]

It also down to the player too. The lure of the money is too much for most. To turn around and say to your club i am going on strike and not going to play for you is outrageous.

I do agree with the prof though...the team spirit is vital. Chelsea talk about their strong team spirit but i can help but think it is a bit superficial (just my opinion of course)...

[easy_jim]

I wish you were right but unfortunately I think Moaninhio is doing everything right (considering he has the advantage of almost unlimited funds). He is keeping his squad size down to around 24 so that most of them have a chance of playing and morale is therefore good. He is only buying players for positions he needs to strengthen, i.e. Del Horno because he only had one left back and Essien because Tiaggo isn't good enough.

Eventually Chelsea will succeed in buying a world class striker and then it is hard to see what can stop them from dominating the Premier League for years to come.

[Shivek]

I wish you were right but unfortunately I think Moaninhio is doing everything right (considering he has the advantage of almost unlimited funds).  He is keeping his squad size down to around 24 so that most of them have a chance of playing and morale is therefore good.  He is only buying players for positions he needs to strengthen, i.e.  Del Horno because he only had one left back and Essien because Tiaggo isn't good enough.

Eventually Chelsea will succeed in buying a world class striker and then it is hard to see what can stop them from dominating the Premier League for years to come.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If Arsenal buy a good striker, a defensive central midfielder, and a good central back defender then they can stop Chelsea.

[lampard10]

If Arsenal buy a good striker, a defensive central midfielder, and a good central back defender then they can stop Chelsea.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If Brighton & Hove Albion buy two good strikers, four good midfielders, four good backs and a good goalie, they could as well I suspect.

[Shivek]

If Arsenal buy a good striker, a defensive central midfielder, and a good central back defender then they can stop Chelsea.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If Brighton & Hove Albion buy two good strikers, four good midfielders, four good backs and a good goalie, they could as well I suspect.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Teamwork also plays a big role, dude!

[ThaiPauly]

INHO they have more than enough talent in midfield, but not in attack, as previously mentioned they need a world class striker to be the real deal, they won the Championship last year with Lampard ,a midfielder as their top scorer. That can't happen again.

[Sarpedon]

They have Crespo back from his loan spell and maybe Drogba will hit some form...or at least the back of the back of the net a few times!

Cant see them losing the title this season despite a stuttering, but winning start against Wigan. Always takes a couple of games ot get back into it...

[TheAceFace]

Still not 100% sure about Essien and the price is way over the top, and I can not see where he will fit in the team with Lampard and Makalelee solid in the middle.

[nev]

a player united first showed intrest in again and chelsea swoop,origanally when united first came in was valued 10mill now 27million,way over priced for a 22 year old,makes rooney look even more of a bargin at 26 million.

[Sarpedon]

Chelsea over pay for all their players...SWP is a great player but probably over priced by around 10 million. Same for Drogba..nad i think the same for Essien. We be interesting to see how he fares in the Premiership.

In the Peace Cup final he wasnt so impressive against Spurs but that was probably due to him not wanting to get injured before engineering his move to Chelsea. Chelseas reserve squad would give Man U and Arsenal a run for the title...

[nev]

dont get carried away sarpedon season only just getting going we dont even no if there first team can give man utd a run for there money yet.lol.

[ThaiPauly]

Personally I blame Chelsea for the current overpricing of most players. I think everything is now geared around "well how much would Chelsea pay for him"

As I said previously its too much money for a player I had never heard of 6 months ago.

How can this be?

[Shivek]

Personally I blame Chelsea for the current overpricing of most players. I think everything is now geared around "well how much would Chelsea pay for him"

As I said previously its too much money for a player I had never heard of 6 months ago.

How can this be?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah.. Chelsea have too much money and they are overspending it for players. They buy general players for such a high price so the price in the transfer market's price for general players would increase beyond they deserve. And this is wrong! I hope Chelsea lose this season and that would teach them a lesson! Gooners rock!

[nev]

have you seen season ticket prices for the premiership compared with europe,arsenal the most expensive followed by chelsea.

there was empty seats at many grounds last weekend getting more n more expensive for the average fan to go,and you no where the money goes to pay fat inflated wages.

how can anyone justify 100.000pounds a week as a wage.

no wonder the average fan is deserting the game,there is so many games on telly now better off going down the pub have a few beers with you mates and watch.

[Sarpedon]

I love football and love Spurs. When i was living in London i did get to go to some games but it was hella expensive. I dont know how some people can afford to go..

Clubs will always raise the price when it comes to dealing with Chelsea and they will always pay up. Real Madrid and man U have over payed for players too...well man U at least with Veron, Chelsea just do it on a regular basis!

I would be interested to know what Lampard 10 thinks of all this? Are Chelsea ruining the game? Is it any different to what Man U and real Madrid were doing buting the best player for huge sums of money? is it good for the premiership? What about all the 'new glory glory' chelsea supporters?