Shameless cut and paste here lads, but a pretty Carlo-like interview to me...top man "Carlo Ancelotti has advised his successor as Chelsea manager, André Villas-Boas, to sell Didier Drogba. The Italian also claimed he has been offered the opportunity to sign Fernando Torres during this month’s transfer window. Ancelotti, who recently took over as coach of Paris Saint-Germain, believes that Drogba’s presence is inhibiting the Spain forward’s performances, although he does not expect his £50 million British record signing to leave Stamford Bridge. Ancelotti made it clear that Torres is being touted around by agents rather than Chelsea, who are adamant that the striker is integral to their long-term plans. While there is little prospect of Torres being sold in the short term, Ancelotti’s views on his relationship with Drogba may be more prescient, as Villas-Boas appears to have reached a similar conclusion on the Ivory Coast striker’s future. Drogba has failed to agree a new contract at Chelsea after rejecting the offer of a one-year extension and seems certain to leave on a free transfer when his deal expires at the end of the season. “I wouldn’t dream of judging a competitor’s work, but I will say that coaching this Chelsea, in the middle of a huge generational change, is complicated,” Ancelotti, who was sacked as Chelsea manager in May, said. “Take Torres and his crisis: if you decide to invest so heavily in him you have to sell Drogba. “Didier is like Filippo Inzaghi, he tends to devour whoever is in his way. It is not malice, they are just made like that.” Ancelotti named Torres as one of a number of world-class players he has been offered by agents since joining PSG this month, a revelation that could unsettle the former Liverpool striker as he attempts to impress Villas-Boas while Drogba is away at the Africa Cup of Nations. Torres is believed to be feeling more confident and happy with his form than he has been for some time despite a dismal haul of only two Premier League goals this season. The 27-year-old created the goal for Frank Lampard in last weekend’s 1-0 win over Sunderland and is determined to stay despite the attempts of several agents to engineer a transfer. “Everyone wants to come here — it’s Paris, there’s money, and a manager with quite a famous name,” Ancelotti said. “There is an embarrassment of choices. Names? OK, these are the players that agents are offering on the market, more or less officially: Tévez, Torres, Berbatov, Pavlyuchenko, Cavani, Llorente. The truth is that the agents take such a dizzying tour that you could rebuild your team every week.” Chelsea’s own team-building plans suffered a setback yesterday when Lille announced that Eden Hazard is not for sale. Chelsea have inquired about the Belgium winger, but have been told not to make a formal bid until the summer, when they are likely to face competition from Real Madrid. Zinédine Zidane, Real’s sporting director, has already held talks with Hazard. Lille are hoping to raise £38 million from the sale of Hazard, which is £13 million more than Chelsea’s initial valuation."
This is off the Times live window watch about 20 mins ago: CHELSEA: Shanghai Shenhua are still confident of sealing a deal for Didier Drogba this month, to go with the arrival of Nicolas Anelka. "Everything is going well in this affair, despite a number of obstacles we have had to overcome," Zhou Jun, a club director, said. Another director, Zhu Jun, has via Twitter likened his club's attempts to sign the Ivory Coast forward to wooing a girl. "It's like trying to pick up a girl," he said. She may push you away at the start but if you continue to ask her out, it still ends well. One must never give up." Who says romance is dead?
I can not see any benefit whatsoever in letting him go till at least the summer especially with Anelka having already gone. We all saw his performance against Valencia. I think Chelsea with Drogba deserve one final punt at the C.L before parting ways. Then this summer use Lukaku as back up to Torres with Sturridge also able to play up top. Then promote Piazon or Kakuta (if loan goes well) and get in someone like Hazard / De Bruyne for the wide roles.
