Drogba’s admittedly good. But really, what’s up with him?!

The Premiership’s top scorer last season has still refused to commit himself to the club and claims he will not talk about it for now as he gets his well-deserved vacation. Okay, we appreciate that he was a crucial player for us, giving us hope of getting all 4 trophies but c’mon. I can smell something fishy here. In an interview, this is what Drogba said:

“You want to know if I will still return to Chelsea? I will reply to that when I am ready. For now I am having a deserved vacation.

“I love the English league and may not be in a hurry to leave England. But it’s difficult to really predict what I want to do in the next week.

“I have been working hard and would love to win the Champions League with Chelsea. But, for now, let’s just wait and see.”

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Just to let you know, Drogba, Kalou and the rest of the Ivory Coast Team XI is in the latest issue of Vanity Fair, which has a special on Africa.  The team is feature in the magazine’s 22-page feature of different Africans who have contributed to the African community- whether it be through music, literature, sports or public service.

Chelsea cleared from transfer bung controversy.

Thank God.  Of course I feared what would’ve happened if Chelsea were really found to have breached transfer regulations.  The haters would run wild.  I think they already did.  Too bad for them.

Last week, two daily newspapers from the UK- The Daily Mirror and The Daily Telegraph- apologized publicly to the club for reporting that the club was mentioned Lord Stevens’ report concerning transfer bungs and involved in the said issue. Last Friday, The Daily Mirror ran an article entitled ‘Chelsea FC An Apology’ containing this:  “Contrary to our report on 16th June in which we stated that Chelsea had been named and shamed in the Stevens Report for breaching transfer regulations, we are happy to confirm that Chelsea FC, including its officials and players, were not found by Lord Stevens to have breached any transfer regulations.

“This was following full co-operation from Chelsea with the inquiry. We apologise to all concerned at Chelsea for this error.”

A day after, The Daily Telegraph ran another apology bearing the same title saying: “Our news report ‘Fresh crisis for football as big names feature in bungs report’ (June 16) reported that Chelsea had been ‘named’ in Lord Stevens’s report.

“We should also have reported, as we did in that day’s sports pages, that Chelsea were not involved in any wrongdoing and that the inquiry found no evidence of irregular payments to any of the club’s officials or players.

“We are happy to reiterate this and apologise to all concerned.”

Ha, take that haters.  I’m sorry your happiness and celebrations were short-lived.

It might be a Duck season for Chelsea…

Because it has been quite silent for the Blues so far, except for that one on Lee Chun-Soo, I’ll take this one from News of the World.

It reports that the Blues might be having its first shell out of funds for a player, a Brazilian player, named Alexandre Pato. For a fee of £18 million, which I believe is too much although I can see the kid is skilled, he who has been linked before with a move to AC Milan and Benfica might make his move soon. His agent Gilmat Veloz revealed that “the deal is almost done because the two clubs have discussed the matter in the last few days.” The 17-year-old striker is currently playing in his home country for the club Internacional.

I’m not sure Chelsea really want Lee Chun-Soo… Do we really?

Last week, I posted something about South Korea winger Lee Chun-Soo being a target of both Chelsea and Fulham for marketing reasons.  Chelsea’s current sponsor, Samsung and one of Fulham’s partners, LG, are both Korean companies.  However, the player denied that Chelsea (and Fulham) are targeting him for marketing reasons. The player pointed out that if the club were interesting in marketing, Japanese players would prove more attractive.

“I don’t think [they] are courting me in terms of marketing. They show interest because they need me.

“As for marketing, Japanese footballers are much more attractive.”

The player’s failure to make an impact in Spain, he claimed, was due to his immaturity at that time.”When I went to Spain I was too immature, but if I have the chance again I will play with determination not to come back to Korea,” he claimed.

“After failing in La Liga I thought it would be difficult to play in a European league. However, I regained my confidence by playing in World Cups and other international matches.”

Some more news in the football world…

Manchester City have already accepted the bid of former Thailand PM Thaksin Shinawatra for £81.6million. While Sven has already dismissed earlier reports about him as a possible manager, BBC reports that he’s now close to handling the soon-to-be taken over club. Reports are being made that he will be revealed next week. However, in the event that he fails to take the job, Thaksin has other ideas in mind: Sevilla’s Juande Ramos, former Porto and AZ Alkmaar coach Co Adriaanse and Blackburn’s Mark Hughes. The former PM hopes to transform the club in 3 years. In an interview, he said: “I am delighted that the board of Manchester City has recommended my bid for the club and I look forward to continuing the excellent work of John Wardle and his team. We share a determination to take the club back to its rightful place at the highest level of competition in both the Premier League and European football.”

When the issue of corruption charges was brought up, he just said, “I can prove my innocence.”

I am tempted to say that he is making this move merely for profits. However, knowing that football is not as dead in Thailand as it is in my country, then I’ll hand him the benefit of the doubt.

Wishing England U21 were the England Senior Team

Okay, I might sound biased and even unfair. I didn’t even see that game between England U21 and Holland U21 semifinal for the European Championship. But, I don’t think I will be unfair when I say that I could only wish this team was the team we see in the Euro 2008. That which can give us a penalty shootout ending with 13-12, not a 0-0 FT score. No wonder manager Stuart Pearce claimed this is his proudest moment as a manager.

It was Reading’s Leroy Lita who scored for the English team but the Dutch youngster Maceo Rigters who managed to equalize with a minute remaining to send the game into overtime, penalty and eventual defeat of the English U21 side. In the PK, it was Anton Ferdinand’s miss that cost the team the final. The Dutch side moved on and won the final against Serbia U21, with a score of 4-1, more than enough for them to be able to retain the crown.

Anyhow, well done.

Photos from TheFA.com and BBC

Weekly Transfer Quickies

Arsenal

The biggest news for the week: Thierry Henry leaves the Emirates Stadium, ending weeks of speculation. Costing £16 million, the player is set to stay at Nou Camp for 4 years. He signed with Liga runners-up “for the football the play, for their history and their stadium.” Wenger’s uncertain future at the club was (also) a very important factor.

Malouda, Silva and Baraja didn’t sign for the Blues, but we have another target.

Lyon have denied allegations regarding Florent Malouda’s move to Stamford Bridge. The player is said to be keen to try it out in another country and the Blues have been reported to be the leading bidders. Moreover, David Silva and Ruben Baraja are staying at the Mestalla. Silva is reported to have signed until 2014 and has a 90 million buy-out clause. Baraja, 31, is said to stay with the club until 2010.

Despite that, the Blues are said to be targeting Royston Drenthe from Feyenoord for £4 million.