Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said yesterday that he was not worried that Manchester United have taken over the mantle of Premier League big spenders.
United have gotten a headstart in the big money summer transfers, bringing in Owen Hargreaves, Nani and Anderson, as well as attempting to tie up a deal with Carlos Tevez.
Chelsea have been more modest with Steve Sidwell, Tal Ben Haim and Claudio Pizarro already recruited, Brazil defender Alex set to join from PSV Eindhoven and negotiations continuing with Lyon for Florent Malouda.
And Kenyon underlined that they were trying to move away from relying on the billions of owner Roman Abramovich in their bid to wrest the Premiership title back from United.
"I think it surprised everybody how quick they [United] came out and what they spent," Kenyon said. "I'm not worried about what we've spent. We always look at how they've spent versus how we've spent and that's fine but I don't think it's all about money."
Chelsea are negotiating new contracts for Frank Lampard and John Terry, with a degree of uncertainty over their futures at the club while discussions continue.
Kenyon has not received bids for the pair and insists any approach would be rejected.
"Revenue from the sale of those players is not even factored into our thinking," he said. "They are all professional, we're professional and you couldn't put a value on them saying we're going to sell them. I expect them to stay."
Kenyon also distanced the club from a move for Tottenham's Pascal Chimbonda and Sevilla's Dani Alves, who are both right-backs.
‘AWFUL PERFORMANCE’: Golden State were always chasing the game after failing to threaten from long range, making just eight of 33 three-point attempts Aaron Gordon on Monday scored 38 points as the Denver Nuggets shrugged off the absence of Nikola Jokic to halt the Golden State Warriors’ seven-game winning streak with a 114-105 victory over their Western Conference rivals. A dazzling display from Gordon inspired what was ultimately a comfortable win for Denver, who were missing regular starters Jokic and Jamal Murray from their lineup. The absentees were barely felt by Denver, who startled the Warriors early at San Francisco’s Chase Center and led for most of the game. The Warriors threatened to stage a late rally after slashing the Nuggets’ fourth-quarter lead from 15 points
The US’ bid for a fourth consecutive CONCACAF Nations League title came to a stunning end as they fell 1-0 to Panama after a stoppage-time goal from Cecilio Waterman on Thursday in Inglewood, California. Despite dominating possession, the US struggled to break down a resilient Panama side for long periods. Panama spent the bulk of the match defending, but pounced on a giveaway by the US before substitute forward Waterman sent a shot from the right side of the area to the bottom left corner late in stoppage time. Up next for Panama in tomorrow’s final is to be Mexico, who beat
DOMINATION: McLaren drivers Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris took the first two spots as Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen followed them Australian Oscar Piastri yesterday roared back from season-opening disappointment in his home race by winning the Formula One Chinese Grand Prix from pole position in a McLaren one-two with championship-leading teammate Lando Norris. George Russell finished third for Mercedes, ahead of Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Saturday’s sprint winner Lewis Hamilton fifth and sixth respectively. Piastri’s win denied Norris a third victory in a row, including last year’s Abu Dhabi season-ender, but left champions McLaren unbeaten in two races so far this year. “Mega job guys. The car was very, very lovely,” Piastri said
TO FINAL FOUR: France had 22 chances and scored two goals, while Croatia could not manage a single shot on target in 120 minutes. Les Bleus won 5-4 on penalties France on Sunday overturned a two-goal deficit to qualify for the UEFA Nations League Final Four by eliminating Croatia 5-4 on penalties after a 2-0 victory in their quarter-final second leg at the Stade de France. Dayot Upamecano scored the winning spot kick in a nail-biting shootout in which France keeper Mike Maignan made two saves, sending Les Bleus into the semi-finals against Spain. Michael Olise opened the scoring and Ousmane Dembele doubled their lead 10 minutes from time to send the tie into extra time after their 2-0 loss in Split, Croatia, on Thursday. France had a total of
RSS