Come in No1: Carlo Ancelotti should be unveiled as
new Chelsea manager this week
Carlo Ancelotti is set to be unveiled as Chelsea's new
manager this week and the FA Cup winners will make a further
statement of intent by stepping up their pursuit of $50million
forward Sergio Aguero.
Ancelotti is expected to confirm his intention to move to
Stamford Bridge after his current employers, AC Milan, complete
their Serie A season against Fiorentina.
Chelsea also believe they have overtaken Inter Milan and former
manager Jose Mourinho in the race to sign Atletico Madrid's
Argentine star Aguero, one of the hottest properties in world
football.
Sources in Italy insist Ancelotti will take up the reins at
Chelsea this week, with the only doubt being about precisely when
he will start work. If sacked he could, in theory, take over
tomorrow but if he resigns the clubs are likely to spend the day
discussing compensation and so delay his arrival until Tuesday.
Ancelotti, who will rely on former AC Milan team-mate Ray
Wilkins to help him settle in after his efforts to bring in
backroom staff from Italy were foiled, is said to have agreed a
three-year contract worth almost $5m a year, with a bonus of nearly
$1m more for every major trophy he wins.
To help him do that, Chelsea are moving closer to signing
Aguero, the Argentina international who would help provide the
flair owner Roman Abramovich craves. The 20-year-old is almost
certain to leave Atletico Madrid this summer and join the club's
previous idol, Liverpool's Fernando Torres, in the Premier
League.
Come in No2: Chelsea also hope to seal capture of
Aguero.
Manchester City have also shown a keen interest in
Aguero, but even the deep pockets of the club's Abu Dhabi owners
will not persuade him to join a club who cannot provide him with
Champions League football.
Chelsea, who had an offer for Aguero rejected last summer, are
one of the few clubs who could afford anything close to the $50m
fee specified in his contract's buy-out clause and securing his
services would be a bold statement of intent for the new era, as
well as one in the eye for Inter and Mourinho.
The Italian club had hoped that Argentina manager Diego
Maradona, whose daughter Giannina is Aguero's girlfriend and mother
to their baby son, Benjamin, would help persuade his compatriot to
leave Spain for Serie A, just as Maradona himself did in 1984, when
he left Barcelona for Napoli.
But it is understood that Chelsea are now in pole position to
sign him. Jose Segui, who works for Aguero's representatives, IMG,
said: 'I cannot deny big European clubs want Aguero, but the
decision is down to Atletico.'