The Blues are looking to succeed where Milan have failed this summer, sign Wolfsburg's star striker Edin Dzeko. Chelsea have reportedly entered the race to sign Wolfsburg star Edin Dzeko and are planning a €23 million (£20m) offer for the player. The Mirror reports today that new head coach Carlo Ancelotti, who is looking to add quality [.

It could very well be that Chelsea's Deco last game, against Manchester City, is his last game ever for Chelsea. Deco is one of the players that is named to be part of Chelsea's clearout for next season, him along with some other 'names'. Including Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack. Besides that, Deco has interesting options [.

The interim manager is reportedly going to give youth a chance in Wednesday evening's encounter with the Toffees. One of the criticisms of Chelsea's fiscal status and consequential excessive spending over the past five years was that their youth structure would ultimately suffer. Ousted Brazilian boss Luiz Felipe Scolari, though, seemed intent on altering that ethic as [.

Now that the Coca Cola Championship has come to a halt (temporarily, at least, with the playoffs still to be played), us Premier League fans have three new teams to look forward to seeing next season. While only Wolves and Birmingham have locked up promotion spots for next season, within the next few weeks we'll know who out of Reading, Burnley, Sheffield United, and Preston North End will be playing top flight footbal come August.

CSKA Moscow star Yuri Zhirkov will sign a contract with the Blues on Wednesday, according to reports in Russia. Yuri Zhirkov has been linked with a move away from CSKA Moscow for some time now, with Chelsea and Barcelona both thought to be in the running for the player's signature. The Russia international insisted earlier this month [.

The Argentine youngster's Franco di Santo future at Chelsea appears to be up in the air as Rovers hover. Following chairman John Williams' admission that Blackburn Rovers were interested in Franco Di Santo, Sam Allardyce has suggested that they could take the Argentine permanently rather than on loan, as was initially mooted.

The Blues appear to have turned their attentions to Real Madrid's Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder. Chelsea are reportedly set to make a move for unsettled Real Madrid ace Wesley Sneijder, according to a report in the News of the World. The Dutchman's position at the Bernabeu looks very uncertain, particularly following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo from [.

As soon as the referee blew his whistle to bring a toughly contested fixture between Manchester United and Everton to its end at Old Trafford, it became clear that the home side has indeed mastered the technique of winning games with a 1-0 margin this season. Some of their rivals feel that Sir Alex Ferguson's men have been lucky to escape with multiple 1-0 wins this season and many have accused United of appearing "lost" on their way to yet another successful season.

Fabio Capello may have led England to one of its best starts in a World Cup qualification campaign. However, as the Three Lions' last outing against European Champions Spain suggests, there is still a lot of learning to do for Mr. Capello before he gets his starting eleven completely right. At least I feel this way.

Chelsea's bid for Sergio Aguero has stalled over the striker's incredible wage demands. The Argentina star wants a staggering £10million a year to quit Spaniards Atletico Madrid for the Premier League. That would easily make him the highest-paid player in England on a whopping £200,000 A WEEK. Chelsea's top earners at the moment are skipper John Terry and [.

Arsenal defender Philippe Senderos is reported to have agreed a switch to Everton.

The Swiss centre-half has slipped down the pecking order at Emirates Stadium in recent times, and spent the 2008/09 season on loan at AC Milan.

Despite the Gunners having offloaded Kolo Toure to Manchester City this summer,Arsene Wenger has moved to snap upThomas Vermaelen from Ajax.

The FA Cup is always good for a few surprise results, and this year has already proved to be no different. Both Chelsea and Manchester City faced lower league opposition at home in the third round, and neither side came out with the result they wanted. The more surprising of the two is perhaps Manchester City's 3-0 defeat against Nottingham Forest.

The Ivorian was all set to depart Stamford Bridge in January, according to his agent, who would also like the player to turn into an 'African Platini' when he retires... Didier Drogba was on the verge of leaving Chelsea in January, his agent has intimated, and only didn't do so, supposedly, because the Stamford Bridge directors [.

Didier Drogba's agent has claimed Chelsea sacked Luiz Felipe Scolari because of his feud with the striker. Scolari was fired three weeks ago amid reports that owner Roman Abramovich came to his decision after meeting with Drogba, as well as Petr Cech and Michael Ballack, at the training ground. It appears Scolari's fall-out with Drogba was the [.

Like the kid at school that is an outstanding achiever in all facets of life, Frank Lampard has combined weighty brain power to his playmaking, ball-pinging, goalkeeper-slaying and net-bulging form. It is rare that intellectuals and footballers are paired together in the same sentence because education is sometimes over-looked in favour of honing skills at tender [.

The invitation of the Dutch national team for the upcoming World Cup qualification matches was a welcome change for Rafael van der Vaart. In the last 8 matches for Real Madrid, he was on the field for a measly 34 minutes, of whom 27 were against Liverpool, when Real was already behind with a 3-0 [...

Now the dust has settled and Tom Henning Ovrebo has escaped Britain without being lynched, one thing has become abundantly clear after last Wednesday Champions League semi-final; neutral football fans, almost to a man, were desperate to see Barcelona go through. Chelsea fans aside, no one has been that bothered by the referee's woeful performance.

Chelsea are locked in talks to sign Bayern Munich ace Franck Ribery for £43million. The two clubs are believed to have agreed the fee and Blues are now thrashing out terms with the 26-year-old French international midfielder. Ribery is holding out for a bumper £125,000-a-week salary AFTER tax but Chelsea are reluctant to offer more than £90,000 [.

Today's rumours are going to attempt to set a world record for the number of consecutive words to be written about summer deals without easy recourse to the names Cristiano, Gareth or Xabi. In much the same way that the Irish Sea is crying out for a dash more toxic spew from Sellafield, Chelsea desperately need [.

According to an agent, Ibra will end up playing for the Blues next season. Over the past few days, speculation has been swaying back and forth regarding Maicon and Zlatan Ibrahimovic's future at Inter, with a whole cluster of clubs across Europe, from Real Madrid to Barcelona to Chelsea, frantically chasing after their signatures.

Chelsea are ready to offload Didier Drogba to AC Milan as part of a deal to lure Alexandre Pato to Stamford Bridge. That is the surprising new twist as the Blues boss, former San Siro coach Carlo Ancelotti, bids to remodel the team. Ancelotti and owner Roman Abramovich have been keen to land the 19-year-old Brazilian whizzkid [.

The Blues are set to snap up a young prospect from their London neighbours, Charlton Athletic, it seems. Chelsea are set to sign highly-rated Jonjo Selvey, an England youth international, from Charlton Athletic, according to a report from Sky Sports. The deal would apparently see the player signing for the Stamford Bridge outfit and then rejoining Athletic [.

Chelsea are looking to continue their midfield bolstering with the acquisition of the coveted battler Daniele de Rossi. Chelsea secured their first major transfer of the summer window with Monday's £18 million purchase of Russia international Yuri Zhirkov, but look set to embark on their own wave of Galactico recruiting as a report in an Italian [.

Gallery, images, photos and pictures of Sunderland v Chelsea, Premier League, Round 2, the 18th of August.

This match has yet to start..

With the Ballon d'Or nominations finally releasing this weekend, the headlines have mostly been devoted to the fact that world champions Italy have no representation whatsoever. But why blame the press for paying excessive attention to an irrelevant detail? After all, the award itself is destined to be heading Lionel Messi's way, which means very little is there to be talked about in terms of debating the winner, right?

No doubt, it is great to see two massive sides come together at a massive venue in massive form. Furthermore, if the clash between these two teams has been scheduled for months, proceedings become even more pulsating. Fans of both teams feel the chills down their spines while the neutrals across the world just wait restlessly for a cracker of a game.

While Manchester City and Newcastle United have no domestic honors to fight for, both sides certainly hold the key to getting the Premier League table tighter by the time the 28th round of fixtures comes to an end this midweek. City may have enjoyed a great run in the UEFA Cup, but their 1-0 defeat to West Ham over the weekend verifies that there is still a lot of work to be done at the Eastlands if the Sky Blues are to guarantee themselves a spot in the top half of .

Arsene Wenger believes he has uncovered another gem in Spain: Atletico Madrid's 16-year-old midfielder Sergio Marcos. But Arsenal face competition from England's biggest clubs - particularly Chelsea - to sign the youngster, who is out of contract in the summer. The La Liga club, panicked by the amount of scouts that have turned up to watch Marcos, [.

The contrite defender has issued an apologetic statement following his arrest and subsequent fine last night. Chelsea defender Ashley Cole was last night arrested and issued with a fixed penalty notice (an on-the-spot fine) of £80 for conduct that police officers felt was 'drunk and disorderly'. Cole was alleged to have confronted police officers, swearing at them in [.

Jens Lehmann knows about it. What does pressure do?

Chelsea will pay £15million for Russia international Yuri Zhirkov this summer. The CSKA Moscow playmaker is described as ‘the Russian Ronaldinho' and has been recommended by temporary boss Guus Hiddink. Hiddink has made Zhirkov, 25, the fulcrum of the national team and told Roman Abramovich he is the breakthrough player Chelsea desperately need.

The temporary Chelsea manager has revealed that players and staff at the club have planted seeds of contemplation in his mind over an extension to his Stamford Bridge stay. Since Guus Hiddink arrived at Chelsea on February 11, following the departure of the ineffectual Luiz Felipe Scolari, the 62-year-old has oft maintained that the appointment was [.

Guus Hiddink has a lot to take care of nowadays with being the headcoach of Chelsea and the Russian national team. During a press conference in Moscow Hiddink made a pretty painful mistake.. He called the playmaker of Arsenal, Arshavin, a playmaker of Chelsea. As soon as Hiddink realised his slip of the tongue, he rushed [.

Reports in the English press suggest that the Premier League challengers are looking to bring the winger Ashley Young to Stamford Bridge in the summer. Chelsea are poised to make a bid for highly-rated Aston Villa winger Ashley Young when the transfer window re-opens in the summer, according to reports in the English tabloids.

It is clear that here at Premiership Talk, we value Premier League football well above any other version of the beautiful game. Therefore, as the Premier League returns this weekend, one match that generates tremendous curiosity, in my opinion, is Manchester City's visit to Arsenal. Considering Arsenal's great form and Manchester City's inconsistency, this game would usually be classified as a routine challenge for the Gunners.

In what is being called, by many UEFA pundits, arguably the most thrilling Champions League quarterfinal in recent memory, Chelsea knocked Liverpool out 7-5 on aggregate. However, the aggregate score is certainly flattering for the Blues, who defended amateurish throughout the second leg at home tonight.

As soon as the final whistle was blown at the Dragao last night, Manchester United confirmed its place in one of the two UEFA Champions League semifinals. Who was the opponent? A young Arsenal side that had already been penciled in as one of the semifinalists, around half an hour before United, courtesy of an emphatic 3-0 thrashing of Villarreal.

Chelsea have agreed to splash out £18.6million for Russia star Yuri Zhirkov. As SunSport revealed in March, Guus Hiddink recommended the 25 year old, dubbed the Russian Ronaldinho, to Blues owner Roman Abramovich. Zhirkov's agent yesterday claimed a four-year deal was signed two days ago and that the CSKA Moscow star will move to Stamford Bridge later [.

Carlo Ancelotti wants Brazilian Alexandre Pato and ex-Chelsea defender Glen Johnson to kick-start his Blue revolution. The new Stamford Bridge boss, confirmed as Guus Hiddink's replacement yesterday, believes the pair could help him win the Champions League. SunSport can reveal Ancelotti, 49, has already offered his old club AC Milan £30m for 19-year-old striker Pato.

Carlo Ancelotti has put Philippe Mexes on top of his Chelsea hitlist to replace Ricardo Carvalho. Roma are willing to do business for the centre-back at around £12million. Boss Ancelotti, a former Roma player, knows the Italians need to cash in after failing to qualify for the Champions League. Frenchman Mexes, 27, has been one of Italy's top [.