Veron next on Chelsea hit list

Chelsea will demonstrate the spectacular spending power of Roman Abramovich yet again this week by opening negotiations with Manchester United to secure the £14m transfer of Juan Sebastian Veron and returning to Italy to lure Christian Vieri from Inter. Blackburn Rovers, meanwhile, will have little choice but to accept an improved bid for their Republic of Ireland winger Damien Duff.

Although Manchester United retain an interest in the player, Blackburn Rovers expect a third bid from the Londoners for the Irish winger. Sources close to the player are confident the latest offer will trigger a £17.7 million release clause in the player's contract.

"We've had bids of £13 million and £15 million so far and there has been no further communication from Chelsea," confirmed Rovers' chief executive John Williams yesterday, though Blackburn are increasingly resigned to seeing Duff leave.

With the Duff deal imminent, it is now Abramovich's wish to test his financial clout at the home of the Premiership champions in a move that illustrates the sudden shift in the balance at the top of football's hierarchy. Having been strongly advised by Sven-Goran Eriksson, who coached Veron at Sampdoria and Lazio, in talks last week, Chelsea's benefactor has been in contact with United to express his interest in the 28-year-old.

That initial approach, undertaken by the Israeli go-between Pini Zahavi, who has recently been conducting negotiations for both Chelsea and United with Paris St-Germain over the potential purchase of Ronaldinho, met with a warm reception at Old Trafford. Zahavi smoothed Veron's £28.1 million move from Lazio to United in 2001, since when Sir Alex Ferguson has consistently defended the player in face of widespread criticism.

Now Veron, who has three years to run on his current contract, will move for less than half that amount. Should United, as expected, clinch the signing of Ronaldinho this week, Veron's transfer to the capital should be ratified within days.

By then, Chelsea hope to parade Vieri at Stamford Bridge. Inter are seeking about £29m for the striker, though Chelsea officials arriving for talks with the Italian club's president Massimo Moratti today will be confident of lowering that price. An initial offer of £21m, believed to have been made by Zahavi on Chelsea's behalf, was rejected last Thursday.

The Italy striker, a fluent English speaker having grown up in Australia, earns £120,000 per week at the San Siro, with Inter keen to free that money from the wage bill in order to pursue other transfer interests. Vieri played under the Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri at Atletico Madrid before joining Eriksson at Lazio in 1998. Abramovich has clearly heeded the England coach's recommendation again.

Though he has expressed his willingness to stay with the Champions League semi-finalists - "I'd like two presents for my birthday," he said on turning 30 this weekend, "good health and to win a major trophy with Inter" - Vieri has previously made no secret of his desire to test himself in the Premiership.

His signing would represent something of a coup, complementing the arrivals of West Ham's Glen Johnson and the Real Madrid midfielder Geremi, and the likely purchase of Southampton's Wayne Bridge, who was the subject of an unsuccessful £5 million bid last week. However, any hopes Abramovich had of also luring the Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard to London, even for £50 million, will be dashed.

"The player is not for sale at any price," said a Liverpool spokesman. "Steven is a central part of Gerard Houllier's plans, so they would be wasting their time making a bid."