Football Transfer Rumours: Chelsea aim to keep Didier Drogba; fail to sign Neymar da Silva
The English Premier League Champions Chelsea claimed their fourth league title in the 2009/10 season. Consequently, Didier Drogba won the Golden Boot as he scored 29 goals in the league. These acts prove that the Ivory Coast international has been phenomenal in his club’s bid for the title and is one of the key players for Chelsea. However, the 32-year-old hit-man has been linked with a move which will take him away from the Blues. His agent claims that the high spending Manchester City has offered 20 million pounds for the Golden Boot winner in order to pave his way towards a transfer. The Champions have issued a fair warning to all the interested clubs that Drogba is not for sale and Chelsea have warned Europe's top clubs that the Ivory Coast striker will not be given to anyone.
While talking to a radio station, Thierno Seydi, who is the current manager of Drogba, claimed that the player may well leave the club by the end of the transfer window, with claims that talks with Manchester City have already taken place. City however denied such claims while Chelsea has issued another statement, stating that the Ivory Coast international is an untouchable. According to a spokesman for the club, the news regarding Drogba is completely irrelevant and Drogba is not for sale. Seydi is notorious for creating unnecessary hype for his agent, every time a transfer window commences. Experts believe that Chelsea is no way near to selling Drogba any time soon, as Chelsea won an historic double under new manager Carlo Ancelotti. Drogba scored a total of 39 goals in all competitions during the previous season.
The striker joined the Blues six year ago, and has already scored 84 goals for Chelsea. Drogba is the pillar in Chelsea’s success over the years, and wouldn’t want to move to a side, which will not be playing the Champions League this season.
Manchester City was also dismissive about the agent’s comments, as they have already spent 60 million pounds on the signings of Yaya Toure, Jerome Boateng and David Silva. Manchester City, which has spent a lot of money last year to buy top quality strikers like Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor, claimed that there has been no contact with the player.
Chelsea on the other hand has failed to attract teenage striker Neymar da Silva to their side, and the Brazilian Club Santos have officially rejected their offer. Chelsea priced the 18-year-old striker to be in the range of 20 million pounds but Santos were just not interested.
The news became official when Santos issued a statement on its official website that Neymar was not for sale this summer for any price whatsoever. Neymar made a name for himself when he played for Brazil’s U-16 and U-17 sides, but couldn’t feature at the senior level. Many experts and fans tried to persuade Dunga to take the player to South Africa, but Dunga was not impressed by the teenager’s performance, and thus excluded him from Brazil’s World Cup Squad.
Neymar has generated a lot of interest from various clubs, including a 12 million pound bid from West Ham United, which was also rejected. Heavyweights Manchester United, Real Madrid and AC Milan have all been interested in the striker, and aim to sign him sooner than later. Director of Football at Santos, Mr Pedro Luis, issued a statement regarding West Ham United’s bid. The director claimed that they received a 15 million Euro bid for the player, but he made the club’s position regarding the matter very clear. Pedro added that the players can only leave the club if they can pay the release cause, and therefore there are no negotiations whatsoever. Neymar has been phenomenal for the Brazilian club, as he has scored 27 goals in 29 appearances in the last season. This is a good record for a player who has his entire career in front of him. The teenager is most likely to join one of the heavy weights in Europe, and could establish himself as a top Brazilian player over the years. The new coach for Brazil would also be keeping a close eye on the striker, as Brazil host the 2014 World Cup in a few years time.
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