Ranieri Admits Butt Interest

The link is hardly surprising, with the London club linked to almost every player in the land as Russian owner Roman Abramovich looks to buy the club silverware.

Butt had his transfer request accepted by Sir Alex Ferguson only hours ago, and Chelsea are one of the first clubs to admit interest in the England midfielder since the news was released.

"Butt? Why not?” said Ranieri

"He is not so young but a good, good player. But I don't know.

"He said he's leaving Manchester because he doesn't play with consistency and, at Chelsea, there are a lot of players.

"The players want to play. I understand that and said the same to my players - try to go together this season then, at the end of the season, if they say they suffer too much then it's okay.

"We are looking always for good players. We don't need anybody, we have 21 players, but I want to look around England and other countries to see if there are some good players.”

Personally, I would see a move to Chelsea unlikely for the Manchester-born midfielder. Butt loves United, but the reason he has decided to leave his due to a lack of first-team football as the 28-year-old aims to be included in England's European Championship squad. With the star-studded squad Chelsea currently boast, and their owner more than willing to invest more and more into the team, no player has a guaranteed place in the starting line-up, and this wouldn't be to Butt's liking.

Celtic, Aston Villa, Newcastle United and Middlesbrough have all been linked with a bid for Butt, and one of these clubs would probably be a more desirable move for the United youth team graduate.

Contact the Author