The Times Claim Player Contract Talks Suspended at Chelsea
By dixon9
April 21 2010
The Times newspaper has today claimed that some big name player contract talks have been suspended by Roman Abramovich. The move, says The Times, has been made in order to shift financial focus away from the much more pressing football matters such as the run in to the Premier League title and the FA Cup final.
Some other media reports also claim that Abramovich is angry with regard to some player performances and the “meek” way in which we were knocked out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage to Mourinho´s Inter Milan.
As per usual though, there are no attributed quotes just the typical “sources close to the club”. There is also the possibility that if any decision has been made with regard to player contracts, it may have been made by new CEO Ron Gourlay.
Here’s a brief summary of the players involved:
Joe Cole
The Times claim that Joey´s negotiations have broken down primarily because of financial reasons with the club not willing to match his £100,000-a-week pay demands – Chelsea’s offer is £85,000 a week.
Cole remains generally popular with the supporters and some would be loathe to see such a talent leave the club despite his recent injury prone era. Cole also appears extremely loyal to a club that he has supported all his life and would be very reluctant to leave even with a superior offer from another club.
Michael Ballack
Ballack has rejected a one-year extension claims the The Times, as he wants his new contract to run until the 2012 European Championship.
Ballack is already 33 but Ancelotti is said to be keen to keep him as at worst he serves as a very useful player to bring on when more stability is required. Despite appearing to stroll around the pitch, he regularly appears top of the Km covered list after a match, typically covering more than 13km for every 90 minutes played. More recently he has provided some top notch crosses when coming on as a substitute.
Ballack´s representatives are "frustrated at not being given an audience” even after being making a compromise offer which involves a second year only being triggered if he made 30 starts for the club next season.
A significant proportion of Ballack´s salary is made up by commercial deals.
Nicolas Anelka
Anelka’s situation is described as “less pressing” as he still has 12 months to run on his contract. Nevertheless, it has been said recently that the player is upset at not having his situation resolved although The Times quote that Anelka is “closest to signing a deal” with a new three-year contract in the offing.
There can be no doubting Anelka´s class and his ability to fill the void left by an absent or injured Drogba.
Deco
There have been conflicting reports about the 32 year-old who was supposed to be angling for a move away from Stamford Bridge last summer and again some months ago only more recently to be quoted as saying that he doesn’t want to leave the club yet.
No offer to extend has yet been made by Chelsea according to the report.
What is clear is that IF 1-2 top quality signings are to be made in the summer of the calibre of Aguero, Dzeko, Ribrary etc then some players will have to make way. The new players won’t come cheap and the wage bill to income ratio at Chelsea needs to be improved markedly – it is already at a Premier League record level of £142.6 million which forms around a staggering 70% of our total turnover.
There is also the just as important matter of 2-3 youngsters to be integrated into the first team squad next season – Sturridge, Kakuta, Bruma, Borini etc etc…
It’s going to be an interesting and possibly controversial summer, with 1 or 2 noses being knocked out of joint.
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But i would not let J,Cole go just yet
Next season when he is fresh you will see the real JC you wait and see.
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