Barcelona midfielder Deco is poised to sign for Chelsea
as the London club continue their transfer plans for next season
despite not having a manager in place.
The Brazilian-born Portugal player will cost £15million and is
expected to turn down an offer from Jose Mourinho at Inter Milan
and join Chelsea instead in a deal that is likely to clear the way
for Frank Lampard to leave Stamford Bridge for Inter.
Sources close to Deco have indicated that he is on the verge of
deciding between the two offers from Inter and Chelsea and, despite
being quite close to his compatriot Mourinho, he is said to favour
the Chelsea deal.
Deco, who starred in Portugal's 2-0 win over Turkey last night
as Euro 2008 kicked off in style, has discussed the move with
Ricardo Carvalho and Chelsea's new rightback, Jose Bosingwa.
Deco's decision will inevitably fuel speculation that either
Frank Rijkaard or Luiz Felipe Scolari will be appointed as
Chelsea's new manager. Both have a good relationship with the
player. Rijkaard managed him when he was at Barcelona while
Scolari, of course, is his national team manager.
Chelsea have insisted they will not be rushed in the process of
finding a new manager and have refused to comment on claims that
their chief executive, Peter Kenyon, had returned to Italy in a
fresh bid to persuade Carlo Ancelotti to take up the job. But the
club also insist that the search for a new manager will not hold
them back from pursuing their summer transfer targets, which have
long since been identified.
Chelsea favourite Lampard, who is due to hold talks with Kenyon
later this month about his future at the club, is expected to tell
him that he wants to join former Chelsea manager Mourinho at Inter.
His departure would be upset many fans at Stamford Bridge
