EskWeston

The stories that Madrid would only let Robinho go if they sign Ronaldo are at the moment just paper talk. The Robinho deal is clearly not dead otherwise Kenyon would not be talking about it still this morning....

I agree that players often struggle in first seasons at a new club. My worry with Malouda is that he does not have the skills we really need in a winger for our system. But i think we are going to give him another chance so lets see what he can do, there are plenty of players who have lacked form who need to show what they can do this season. I would be happy going into the new season with the squad taken to China, Minus Wright-Phillips and plus Robinho and Drogba. There will be lot of things that Scolari will asses during the pre season games though and things might still change.

Always great to hear players who have left have nice things to say about the club.....

Peter Kenyon has this morning said that Robinho is the only player we are currently in talks with and if we sign him he will be the last signing that we make this summer because Scolari is very happy with the squad. Do you agree with this, would signing Robinho complete our squad? In many ways i think yes he is right, if we can sign Robinho it would mean that either Wright-Phillips or Malouda would leave, probably Wright-Phillips. In an ideal world personally i would have replaced them both. It remains to be seen how we are going to play this season, but i think adding Robinho would give us a squad strong enough to go on and challenge for all honours this season.

Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Michael Essien has signed a new five-year contract that keeps him at Stamford Bridge until 2013. The Ghana midfielder finalised the deal as the team touched down in China. Essien said : 'I am really pleased to have extended my contract with Chelsea. I am very happy here; we have a great team and fantastic fans who have always made me welcome. With the addition of the new manager, I am feeling very positive about the season ahead.' Luiz Felipe Scolari said: 'I have not been here long but it is clear to me that Michael Essien is one of the best midfield players in the world. I have always admired him and it is good news for me and for Chelsea that he signs for so long.' Essien was the Chelsea fans' Player of the Year for the 2006/07 season. Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon added: 'Since we signed Michael in 2005 he has been a fantastic player for Chelsea. I think everyone has been impressed by his power and skill. He is a player who would improve any team in Europe so we are very happy he has committed his future to Chelsea.' In total so far, Essien has played 143 games for Chelsea with 14 goals to his name. He has won the Barclays Premier League plus the FA and Carling Cups since moving to Stamford Bridge. His strike at home to Arsenal in December 2006 was that campaign's Chelsea Goal of the Season. He joins Wayne Bridge and Petr Cech in signing new deals this week. Source: Chelsea FC

Yup there is a very good chance we are going to see Di Santo's first outing for the first team. And i am sure he will do very well with that chance too. With no major changes involving players the main thing we should be looking for in the pre season games is firstly the formations that Scolari is going to try out and also if there is any real change in the style of play from last season.

Lol, swung back the other way this afternoon. Marca claiming that Robinho has said that he wants to stay at Madrid for the long term!! Also claiming that he will be offered a new double your money 5 year contract - unless Madrid sign Ronaldo. If that is the case i would have thought that would not have made him happy considering he was unhappy at the thought of being used in the Ronaldo transfer..... Still plenty of time for this one to run yet.

Looking at the pictures from todays training session and from what has been mentioned in various reports it looks like Scolari has taken a 23 man squad on to the tour with him. Which gives us some indications on the squad for next season. From what i can gather this is the squad currently out in China: Cech, Cudicini, Hilario Bosingwa, Ferreira, A.Cole, Bridge, Terry, Carvalho, Alex, Ivanovic Lampard, Essien, Deco, Mikel, Ballack Kalou, J.Cole, Wright-Phillips, Malouda Shevchenko, Anelka, Di Santo Not many suprises there to be honest, but this is the squad that the 3 games in the far east will be picked from.

Maka is one of those players you are really gutted to see leave, hope he enjoys his couple of years there. Would still love to see him back here as a coach, seemed to like the idea of coaching when mentioned last year.

Chelsea Football Club has agreed a fee for the transfer of Khalid Boulahrouz to VfB Stuttgart in Germany. We would like to thank Khalid for his contribution while he was at Chelsea FC and we would like to wish him luck at his new club. Source: Chelsea FC

First things first. Madrid have to be willing to accept any sort of fee before we can offer anything. We need this transfer to go through.

Nah, the fact that he hasn't been involved with any training or at all with the club and basically floating around waiting for a club to pick him up means that someone was always going to get a bargain. The bottom line is we have a player we don't want off our wage bill and, the player has got a permanant move.

He could probably have adapted better given more time, but since he left on loan our defence has vastly improved and we no longer have any room for him. Wish him all the best but or us it is just a case of more dead wood moved on.

Well thats the plan, not sure how easy it will be to execute. Essien is going to be a more and more of a key figure for us as time goes on, even this season now that Maka has left he is going to have more of an influence over our play. In a 2 behind Deco with Lampard we could see some devestating midfield play this season.

Eto'o is claiming that there is interest from us to sign Eto'o. Not sure if he is just talking rubbish or not, but he is still without doubt a cracking player even though he does have plenty of personality faults.

No real suprise, hasn't even been at the club training with us!! Another one out the door, next up - Ben Haim, Pizarro and Belletti

Doesn't sound like Drogs will be ready for the start of the Prem either... The 3 strikers we are currently working with have a real chance to put down a marker making it hard for Scolari to not pick them.

The fact that there is no one involved with CFC who would have a bad word to say about the man says everything you need to know about Maka. Went against the grain of what you tend to expect from French players these days also.

Lol, cracking goal..... Maka has worked incredibly hard for us over the years in a role that goes largely unnoticed. His reading of the game was second to none. He lost some of his pace and timing last season and ended up making a few late challenges but was still a real important player to us.

Lol, loved his goal against Spurs though, that was a real cracker. He has been outstanding for us, he has been one of our most vital players in our best and most successful years. It is a shame he has to move on, but i think it is the right time for the club and it is nice for Maka to spend another 2 years playing in Paris.

Chelsea Football Club has released Claude Makelele on a free transfer today (Monday, July 21). Everyone at Chelsea FC would like to take this opportunity to thank Claude for the five years of service he has given to the club. Claude has been a key part of our trophy success during that time and we wish him well for the future. He will always be welcomed back to Stamford Bridge in the future either as a player or as a friend of the club. Source: Chelsea FC

So i guess we take that as official confirmation then?? Well good luck to Maka, was a fantastic player for us.

Well we currently have 4 players able to play that position so lets bloody well hope not. Compeltely wasted there that for sure.

Yup, it's quite ridiculous what he has been through injury wise so far! I don't think anyone will forget that day at Reading though, absolutely awful! A nice injury free season would be nice for him, we need him.

Well lets hope so, there a lot of questions surrounding our squad this season that we are waiting to be answered, one of those is most certainly, what role does Sheva have to play this season. With Drogba not involved hopefully we will get a good idea this pre season.