Matt Scott

Charlton last night rejected Chelsea's third offer for the England midfielder Scott Parker, this one worth £9 million in total.

The fee - with a basic of £7.5 million and appearance-related conditions - is considered insufficient by Charlton and although Chelsea insist that the bid will not be improved, their lack of midfield reinforcements may force them to return to the Valley.

"The board unanimously felt that both £7 million and £7.5 million were unacceptable offers for the best young midfield player in the country," said Charlton's chief executive Peter Varney.

"The offer of further sums when Scott had made up to 90 appearances is not, in our opinion, something we can realistically budget to ever receive.

"Chelsea are one of the teams that rotate their playing squad and it could take several years, if at all, before such monies become payable. By turning down Chelsea's final offer, we can hopefully put this behind us and concentrate on maintaining our position of fourth in the Premiership."

Ironically, Chelsea had agreed a £6 million deal to take Parker to Stamford Bridge last summer only for the arrival of the new owner Roman Abramovich to alter their focus in the market.

The decision to pull out of that deal, since then Parker has signed a five-year contract at the Valley, looks set to cost Chelsea a further £4 million.

Parker remains keen on a move and his manager Alan Curbishley is willing to part with the 23-year-old, but only on his own terms, which are believed to be around £10 million.

Chelsea are desperate to bolster their midfield, from which the manager Claudio Ranieri has this month lost Juan Sebastian Veron to a long-term back injury and Geremi to the African Nations Cup. Claude Makelele and Frank Lampard have been heavily relied upon this season, and Parker would be readily interchangeable with either.

Curbishley believes Parker to have been unsettled by Chelsea's interest and dropped him from the squad which travelled to Everton for the 1-0 Premiership win on Saturday.

However Chelsea's desire to land a player who is available for the Champions League and the FA Cup suggests the deal may be resurrected before the transfer window closes, on February 2nd.

Though Parker is aiming to make the England squad for the European Championship finals in Portugal this summer, he is taking a longer-term view than just this season.

Uppermost in his mind is the desire to be competing for trophies, a more achievable target in south-west rather then south-east London.

A possible contingency plan emerged for Chelsea last night, however, when the Czech Republic midfielder Tomas Rosicky claimed he had received an offer to join them from Borussia Dortmund.

"I must wait until the clubs make a deal," he said. "I'm very glad that Chelsea want me."

The 23-year-old would probably cost a minimum of £10 million and Dortmund would sell as they are in deep financial trouble.

"Chelsea gave us a very serious offer," his agent claimed, although Dortmund maintain they have had no contact with Stamford Bridge.

Meanwhile, Rennes general manager Pierre Dreossi insists that there is still a considerable way to go before Chelsea wrap up the signing of the French club's Czech Republic international goalkeeper Petr Cech.

"The deal has not yet been sealed," Dreossi said yesterday. "We are still negotiating with Chelsea and I don't think it will be all sorted before the end of the week." Both clubs have agreed Cech will join the Londoners at the end of the season rather than immediately as Chelsea wanted.

Arsenal are set to sign Feyenoord's 20-year-old forward Robin van Persie this month. The Premiership leaders have had an initial offer for the Dutchman turned down, but are expected to improve on that and it would be a surprise if the transfer does not go through because all parties are keen to strike a deal.

Van Persie is one of the most exciting talents in Holland.Although currently used as a left-winger, he and many others believe his best position is as a second striker in the mould of Dennis Bergkamp, who started his Ajax career on the right wing.

Guardian Service