While those discussions are at an early stage, and no specific
moves have been made as yet, sources close to Ancelotti yesterday
dismissed suggestions the 49-year-old was having second thoughts
about joining Chelsea or had been set an ultimatum by Abramovich.
Claims that Ancelotti, who was in London last week, held a meeting
on Monday evening with Chelsea representatives were rejected.
Instead a source close to Ancelotti insisted, as The Daily
Telegraph reported last month, it was a "done deal" that the
coach would leave Milan after eight years in charge – a sense that
was fuelled by comments attributed to club owner Silvio Berlusconi
in Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
With Milan trailing Inter by seven points in Serie A,
Berlusconi, who is in Egypt as part of his duties as Italian prime
minister, is reported to have told tourists at the Sharm el Sheikh
resort that it is "all Ancelotti's fault" that the club will not
win a trophy this season.
While conflicting comments have swirled around Ancelotti for
months, and should be treated with caution, Milan vice-president
Adriano Galliani did little to refute the claims yesterday.
Abramovich has pursued Ancelotti for some time – despite the
fact that the coach has worked only in Italy – because of his
pedigree of winning the Champions League.
Abramovich has already made clear to Ancelotti that he will
pursue a bid for Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor – who the Italian
wanted at Milan – and Carlos Tevez, who is expected to leave
Manchester United this summer. An offer for CSKA Moscow's Yuri
Zhirkov is also being prepared.
Some of Ancelotti's most important players at Milan can be added
to that wish list. Pirlo, who is 30 next week and has two years
left on his contract, has attracted interest from Chelsea in the
past and has been key to Ancelotti's plans at Milan, where he has
evolved into the club's play-maker. The Italy international has
indicated in the past that he does not want to leave Milan but
could be tempted this time.
Chelsea have pursued Kaka previously, only for Milan to resist,
but it became clear in Manchester City's negotiations to sign the
Brazilian in January that the Italians were willing to do business.
The likelihood is that Kaka will move to Real Madrid but Chelsea
may join the bidding, even if they would prefer not to get into an
auction involving Real and, possibly, City.
Ancelotti is likely to bring assistant Mauro Tassotti with him
to Chelsea, while a lobby has started to replace him at the San
Siro with Marco van Basten.
Roma coach Luciano Spalletti had been considered Milan's first
choice but Van Basten's sudden departure from Ajax may change
Berlusconi's thinking, especially as he knows that the appointment
of such a popular former player would be accepted by the club's
supporters.
Chelsea will have to wait until the end of this week, or even
the beginning of next, to discover from Uefa what charges Didier
Drogba, Michael Ballack, Jose Bosingwa and, possibly, John Terry
plus the club themselves, may face following last week's turbulent
Champions League semi-final against Barcelona.
