Arsene Wenger is not scared to spend money, according to Arsenal Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis, but he has to believe he's getting a top-class player for his money. And there's the catch. While it's admirable that Wenger wants to be fiscally responsible, it's Wenger fascination with believing he's getting the most value for his money that has hurt the club in the past when they haven't been able to bid as much as other clubs.
Watching Per Mertesacker play, it often appears like a constant challenge for the lanky German to remain upright. But it turns out he's got all kinds of crazy skills in his locker he just doesn't risk them when he's at the heart of the Arsenal defence. A charity match organised by Michael Ballack was [.
The jury has been in deliberation all season about Olivier Giroud at Arsenal. Of course, the French international has been given some leeway by us Gooners, although not much by some, as it is his first season with the Gunners and we have seen players take time to get used to the English Premier League before.
If you were drinking a cup of tea when you saw this headline, I apologise. Wipe your screen down and read on, because Arsenal's French international striker has suggested that he has been better that the Gunners scoring legend Thierry Henry and the `beast` Didier Drogba.
Arsenal's very own attacking enigma Gervinho, who can be brilliant on one day and an abject failure the next, has been talking about his childhood in the Ivory Coast and how football has changed his life.
Arsene Wenger has explained how importance confidence is to the Ivorian's game and Gervinho himself has now showed his emotional side.
Liverpool have joined Arsenal in the race to sign Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku, according to reports. The Daily Star claims Reds boss Brendan Rodgers has joined Gunners chief Arsene Wenger in pursuing the 20-year-old, who is also on the radar of both Borussia Dortmund and Swansea City. Lukaku, dubbed ‘the next Didier Drogba' by the paper, enjoyed a season to remember on loan at West Bromwich Albion last term, netting 17 goals in 35 games for Steve Clark's side.
When people from the outside in look at Chelsea and their continued treatment of managers, there is a common consensus of opinion - dressing room rule!
We have read numerous reports in the written press of Chelsea's big names forcing managers out of the club and all this was started when Luis Felipe Scolari was sacked as manager.
With all the rumour and speculation doing the rounds at the moment about potential signings at Chelsea this summer, I wanted to concentrate on the players we do have and am asking the question of Romelu Lukaku. Do you think he should be heavily involved in the Chelsea first team next season under Mourinho OR do you think he should have another season out on loan?
After his best goal return for a season in a Chelsea shirt, scoring 22 goals, the future of Fernando Torres at the club remains unclear. In light of the speculation that will build right up to the beginning of next season, I want to ask YOU the Chelsea fan reading this no matter where in the world you are, just one question:
Con drama y con un gran Branislav Ivanovic como héroe, el Chelsea se consagró Campeón de la Europa League luego de vencer con marcador 2-1 al Benfica portugués en Amsterdam.
Con este nuevo título, el cuadro "blue" podrá presumir por un lapso de 10 días ser el monarca absoluto de toda Europa, ya que aún es el Campeón vigente de la Champions League.
Racism continues to be one of the hot topics in world football even in 2013, and Ivory Coast star Didier Drogba is the latest to be affected by racist chants. The Galatasaray striker was racially abused by Fenerbahce fans during a recent match between the two rivals, which finished in a 2-1 win for Fenerbahce.
1. Rafa Benitez can relax For once the opposition manager will be disliked nearly as much as him. AVB was never quite the right fit in the Chelsea hot-seat, although he was still a better fit than Benitez. 2. Andre Villas Boas could ponder what might have been... but he doesn't want to John Terry's [.
Following on from the report that a provisional deal had been agreed for Jose Mourinho to return to Chelsea in the summer, it seems that Jose has now also negotiated his way out of Real Madrid with Real President Florentino Perez.
Real Madrid travelled to Turkey this week to take on Didier Drogba's Galatasary in their Champions League quarter final second leg and it's being reported that an agreement had been reached on that trip between the two.
His current side may have just this week dropped out of Europe's premier club competition. However personally it has been a pleasure to witness the return of Didier Drogba to the Champions League in the colors of Galatasaray. Albeit his absence was short-lived, having departed Stamford Bridge for China last summer only to return to Europe in January to join the Turkish side, his return has been a welcome reminder that the Ivorian striker still has something to offer at this elite level.
Radamel Falcao of Atletico Madrid (Wikipedia Commons)
Didier Drogba may not be a Chelsea player anymore, but he could prove to be the crucial link between the club getting their hands on Atletico Madrid striker Radamel Falcao. Chelsea decided to let Drogba leave after several years of service on the assumption that it could help get the best out of Fernando Torres.
From Falcao to Isco to Mourinho and Drogba, this week has been full of news and rumors in the Chelsea world. Check out this week's top Chelsea news stories as the week unfolded.
1) Chelsea Transfer News: Drogba Talks Mourinho's Impending Blues Return
Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba may have come to prominence at the French club Marseille, but it was really at Chelsea where he became one of the greatest strikers in the world.
Real Madrid manager jose Mourinho (Photo via Getty Images)
Former Chelsea superstar and current Galatasaray forward Didier Drogba is putting his support behind Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho returning to Chelsea.
The tie between these two players go back a ways as Drogba was one of Mourinho's first signings at his time at Stamford Bridge.
I would like to go on record now to state that Eden Hazard is different class, World class in fact and it's taken us a number of years to do it but now Chelsea has finally found the natural successor to the likes or Arjen Robben and Damien Duff.
For years we have seen Chelsea try Nicolas Anelka, Didier Drogba, Fernando Torres (at times) and Florent Malouda in those positions but have never really been the same or bring the same quality to the wide areas.
Galatasaray allowed supporters to attend their training session this week — a decision they probablyregrettedafter a fan invaded the practice pitch and collided with Didier Drogba. The man appeared to be sprinting towards Drogba to give him a hug, but just before he reached the Ivorian striker, he slipped an fell on him.
Liverpool and Manchester United will face a fight with Galatasaray for the signing of Porto striker Jackson Martinez. The forward is now regarded as one of the world's best strikers, alongside Atletico Madrid's Falcao and Edinson Cavani of Napoli. And that has sparked the interest of free-spending Galatasaray, who have recently added superstars Didier Drogba and Wesley Sneijder to their squad.
Real Madrid are back in the Champions League semi-finals after beating Galatasaray 5-3 on aggregate despite a 3-2 defeat in Istanbul.
Already three goals up from the first leg at the Bernabeu, the tie was seemingly over when Cristiano Ronaldo scored after just eight minutes.
But an Emmanuel Eboue thunderbolt after 57 minutes brought Gala back level on the night, before Wesley Sneijder put the home side ahead after 70 minutes.
When Cristiano Ronaldo scored just eight minutes into Real Madrid's Champions League quarterfinal second leg against Galatasaray it seemed the result was a foregone conclusion. Real Madrid carried over a 3-0 lead from the first leg in Spain, so the final 82 minutes of the tie could've easily devolved into something even worse than an free information session on ski resort time shares.
Real Madrid 3-0 Galatasaray Champions League 3rd April 2013
Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid firmly planted one foot in the Champions League semi-finals after cruising past Galatasaray at the Bernabeu.
First-half goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema gave Los Merengues a 2-0 lead at the interval while Gonzalo Higuain finished off the scoring in the second period.
Real Madrid have all but booked their place in the Champions League semi-finals for a record 24th time as they overpowered Galatasaray 3-0 at the Bernabeu.
Galatasaray's coaches and players had insisted before the game that they would try to attack Real Madrid and that they would not settle for holding out for a draw.
This Wednesday, Real Madrid will host Galatasaray at the Estadio Bernabeu in the first match of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal tie. Both teams advanced in dramatic fashion with Real Madrid beating Manchester United after a controversial red card and Galatasaray withstanding Schalke's onslaught to advance through to the quarters.
I had to do a double take when I saw this story in the newspaper this morning, then I checked the date to see if it was April Fool's Day, although that does not necessarily the story true. Apparently, the Turkish champions Galatasaray want to sign the Arsenal and Ivory Coast forward Gervinho in the summer, and they are willing to pay £12 million for the privilege.
Wesley Sneijder and Didier Drogba of Galatasaray celebrate with team mates Goekhan Zan and Felipe Melo (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Galatasaray qualified for the Champions League quarterfinals after sealing a 3-2 victory over Schalke 04 at the Veltins-Arena in Germany.
Schalke's spirited second-half performance was not enough as Galatasaray scored in the final moments of the match to ensure that the Turkish champions would feature in the next round of the Champions League.
The Bundesliga's stature in world football continues to rise, and Schalke were slight favourites to join Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich in the quarterfinals of the Champions League.
Real Madrid could make it to the semi-finals of the Champions League for the third successive season with a positive result against Galatasaray in Istanbul on Tuesday evening.
The Spanish club won the first-leg last Wednesday by a scoreline of 3-0, putting them in cruise control ahead of the second leg.
What's this, you say?! Ah, it's only Jose Mourinho peeking into the Madrid press conference room ahead of tonight's clash against Galatasaray. There's no real cause for worry though his former player Wesley Sneijder spoke highly of him earlier this week and the football realists among you would probably expect an easy Madrid win tonight.
One of the highlights of the Champions League draw will see Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid take on Galatasaray in a game that will reunite two Chelsea legends.
It seems that the press over there are trying to create a problem between the two with "claims" that Jose Mourinho had started saying bad things about the big man and, in typical Mourinho style, he was quick to deny these reports but praise Drogba.
Paris St. Germain's quest to become a world power and European champion will have to go through the top team in the world after the draw for the UEFA Champions League quarterfinals set up a dream tie between PSG and FC Barcelona.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and PSG will take on Lionel Messi and Barcelona in one of the most intriguing match-ups chosen in the Round of Eight draw, which was held on Friday morning.
A special farewell match for former German captain Michael Ballack, who retired last year, was held in Liepzig, Germany and featured an interesting mix of stars. The "Ballack and Friends" team included the likes of Miroslav Klose, Dietmar Hamann and Torsten Frings, while the "World Team" included The Continental himself (Dimitar Berbatov), Didier Drogba, Andriy Shevchenko, Philipp Lahm and Jose Mourinho as manager.
Galatasaray may think twice about allowing fan's watch their hero's train after this over zealous fan sprints past security staff to hug Didier Drogba only to slip and take the giant Ivorian out of it. Straight red card I'd say?
There is plenty that will talked about when this season finishes as we look back at a season that promised so much but delivered so little. From the change of manager to results, performances and the positives we can take from it. One other thing has been constant and hasn't done us any favours and that's the uncertainty that has surrounded the club and plagued our season.
Is time up for the Ivory Coast's Golden Generation?
By Peter Sharland
In England, there is a general acceptance that we recently experienced a golden generation of talented footballers that never produced on the world stage.
Tonight will be weird. Watching Didier Drogba play for another side in the Champions League up against Jose Mourinho's Real Madrid. No matter how many times I see it, it just never feels right as it is only a short time ago that he scored THAT penalty!.
Of course leading up to tonight's game, there has been plenty of questions put to Drogba about Mourinho and with all the speculation that Jose is coming back to Chelsea in the summer, Drogba has added his point of view.
Galatasaray reached the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League after edging out valiant Schalke at the Veltins-Arena 3-2, advancing 4-3 on aggregate.
Despite taking an early lead through Roman Neustadter, the German side were ultimately undone by strikes from Hamit Altintop and Burak Yilmaz just before the break.
