Claudio Pizarro has today signed a permanent deal with Werder
Bremen.
The Peruvian spent last year on loan with the German club,
scoring 17 times in 26 Bundesliga games.
Pizarro joined us in the summer of 2007 on a free from Bayern
Munich, scoring on his debut in a 3-2 win over Birmingham, and
again against the Blues at St Andrews, his only strikes in 31
Chelsea appearances that season.
All at the club wish Claudio well for the future.
Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce the signing
of midfielder Nemanja Matic on a four-year contract.
The 21-year-old joins us from Slovak side MFK Kosice and is
highly regarded around Europe as a talent to look out for in the
future.
Matic already has two full Serbia caps, playing alongside
Branislav Ivanovic, and was at the Under 21 European Championships
in Sweden this summer, although a broken metatarsal ended his
tournament in the first game against Italy.
That injury means he will be ruled out for a number of weeks
yet, although he is recovering well, and he is delighted to be a
Chelsea player.
'I know a lot about Chelsea, I have been following them,' he
said.
'I play together with Branislav in the national team and have
spoken to him about Chelsea. The first time when I met him to play
in the national team I asked a couple of questions,' Matic
added.
He may be a relative unknown to Blues fans, so chelseafc.com
asked the player to say a few words about himself.
'I am a solid midfield player, I have a lot to offer and for
sure to progress and I will show everyone why I am at Chelsea,' he
began.
'I am a central-midfielder, and I know I am not well known but I
have physical power and I am quite a technical, left-footed
player.
'Since the age of 18 I have been at Kosice, and before that I
had played in the youth team of Red Star Belgrade.'
Matic, who is 6ft 4ins tall and also holds a Slovak passport,
has been heavily trailed by other Premier League clubs, and
actually spent some time on trial at Middlesbrough in January.
'I was there in the winter, when I came it was winter in the
north of England so it was not very nice, but the squad was okay
and I liked it,' he said.
Hopefully London will be a more hospitable destination, and
while Matic does not yet speak English, having Ivanovic alongside,
as well as other eastern European influences Andriy Shevchenko and
Yuri Zhirkov, he is sure to settle quickly.