Chelsea boss Grant splashes out £9m on Serb defender
Ivanovic
Avram Grant's spending spree continued last night when Chelsea
finally announced the £8million arrival of Lokomotiv Moscow central
defender Branislav Ivanovic. The Serbia international, 23, has been
courted by Juventus, Manchester United and Barcelona but they could
not match Chelsea's financial muscle.
Ivanovic, who can also play left back, has already secured a work
permit and may make his debut in Chelsea's Barclays Premier League
clash at Birmingham on Saturday. His arrival is likely to speed Tal
Ben Haim's departure with Tottenham having expressed an interest in
him.
Chelsea have a number of players at the African Cup of Nations and
there are fresh doubts about Didier Drogba's role at the club when
he eventually returns. Drogba wants to quit Chelsea for
Barcelona.
The Ivory Coast striker said: "Any striker in my situation would be
really happy to get the chance to play alongside Samuel Eto'o. "I
don't see why it should not happen. It would be something
exceptional but Barcelona need to get their chequebook out. "The
things I love about Samuel are his pace, his instinct for goals,
his running and simply the fact he is indispensable to Barcelona.
"When Chelsea played a Barca side that was without him, we knew
we'd have the game won even before we took the field.
"Every Chelsea player would say the same and Jose Mourinho as well.
When he learned that Samuel wasn't playing against us in October
2006 he told us: 'We've won.'"
Looks like Chelsea got no talent scout... again pick up from others
interest... 
