Despite a sharp drop in their share price yesterday Chelsea are ready to launch a summer spending spree by investing about £20 million on the Rangers midfield pair of Barry Ferguson and Giovanni van Bronckhorst
Both players will almost certainly be auctioned off at the end of the season as the Glasgow club attempts to raise cash for an overhaul of a squad that has recently played second fiddle to Celtic.
The Chelsea coach Claudio Ranieri recently informed his chairman, Ken Bates, that he wished to dismantle and then reshape the squad he inherited from Gianluca Vialli.
If, as is expected, Bates gives his consent big earners such as Frank Leboeuf, Roberto di Matteo, Gus Poyet, Ed de Goey and even Dennis Wise could be offloaded. Anderlecht have angrily denied reports that they are in talks with Chelsea over the transfer of the £12mrated Czech striker Jan Koller.
The Belgian club's chairman Roger Vanden Stock was quoted at the weekend as saying the club had held talks with Chelsea about the striker. But yesterday Vanden Stock insisted: "We have not spoken to them (Chelsea) about Koller. I have no idea where they've got the story from."
Meanwhile, Arsenal are planning a £2m move this summer for Bordeaux's goalkeeper Ulrich Rame. The 28-year-old stood in for Fabien Barthez in France's 5-0 win over Japan this week, earning his fifth cap.
Sol Campbell, shedding no tears over the sacking of George Graham, has given the strongest hint yet that he will stay at Tottenham so long as the club's owner, Enic, displays enough ambition to win trophies.
The England defender sidestepped a suggestion that his upbeat mood had anything to do with the departure of the former manager. But the pair were barely on speaking terms after a row over team selection. Campbell now wants to know whether Enic's plans can persuade him to stay.
Wimbledon have been linked with a summer move for the Rangers striker Billy Dodds after club scouts saw him score twice for Scotland against Belgium on Saturday.
UEFA yesterday confirmed Deportivo La Coruna will not be kicked out of this season's Champions League even if four of their players are found guilty of passport irregularities.
Reports had suggested Leeds, who face Deportivo in the quarter-finals of the competition - with the first leg at Elland Road next Wednesday - could have been awarded a bye.
