SOCCER:MILAN BUILT on their apparent success in resisting Chelsea's interest in their coach, Carlo Ancelotti, by suggesting yesterday that they hoped to lure Didier Drogba and Andriy Shevchenko from Stamford Bridge.
General manager Adriano Galliani, said he had enjoyed a lengthy dialogue with Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon this week "talking about football things in general".
When asked whether the potential availability of the strikers had cropped up in the conversation, he replied: "Sure, we talked about players, about Shevchenko, about Drogba, about all these things. We still have a very good rapport with Chelsea."
Neither player's departure from Stamford Bridge would constitute a surprise. Drogba has appeared unsettled since Jose Mourinho was sacked last September and Chelsea circulated the striker's name to clubs in recent weeks alerting them to his availability.
Ancelotti missed out on signing Palermo's Amauri, who has joined Juventus, and last month pinpointed Drogba as one of three other forwards he wished to pursue.
Completing the set were Samuel Eto'o at Barcelona and the Arsenal's Emmanuel Adebayor.
Drogba (30), would offer Milan a very different kind of player to those they possess. The Ivorian's last action in a Chelsea shirt appears likely to have been his petulant slap in the face of Nemanja Vidic in the Champions League final, a misdemeanour which saw him sent off in extra-time.
Shevchenko remained on the bench throughout the final in Moscow and has failed to make a consistent impact in English football since his €40 million move from Milan two years ago.
He has scored only nine goals in 47 Premier League appearances and, although he remains a firm favourite with Roman Abramovich, a return to San Siro at a fraction of that inflated fee has long been mooted.
The prospect of Kaka, the Rossoneri's brilliant Brazil international, moving in the opposite direction was instantly dismissed by Galliani. "He is absolutely not for sale," he said. "Just like Carlo Ancelotti, Kaka will be here with us next season."
In any case, Chelsea's chances of recruiting a player of Kaka's calibre at this stage appear to be diminished by their lack of a manager to attract him to the club.
Although there may remain hope in Chelsea's hierarchy that Ancelotti can still be persuaded to leave San Siro, where he is under contract until 2010, the reality appears to be they will struggle to prise the 48-year-old away.
That represents a blow and, after seeing Kenyon's favourite, Mark Hughes, take up the reins at Manchester City yesterday, Chelsea continue to scrutinise the credentials of other targets.
They retain interest in the Portugal coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, who will not consider his future until after Euro 2008.
Chelsea are prepared to wait that long, but there is also support among Abramovich's advisers for Luciano Spalletti, who has implemented an attractive brand of attacking football and taken Roma to two runners-up finishes and the quarter-finals of the Champions League in the past two seasons.
Roma would resist any attempt to lure their coach away, but they are rendered vulnerable by considerable debts and are braced to lose key players such as Alberto Aquilani, Juan and Mancini.
However, the 49-year-old Spalletti speaks little English, a factor which has seen the World Cup-winning Italy coach Marcello Lippi effectively ruled out.
The other potential candidates, the unattached Roberto Mancini, Frank Rijkaard and Didier Deschamps, remain outsiders.
Chelsea received encouraging news from two of their own midfielders last night, with Michael Ballack indicating that he hoped to sign a new contract - his deal expires next summer - and Michael Essien rejecting any suggestion that he might rejoin Mourinho at Internazionale.
"Michael is very happy at Chelsea and that is where he will be playing next season," said his agent, Fabien Piveteau.
Guardian Service
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