Chelsea bid £15m for Malouda, say Lyon
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Chelsea appeared to be closing in on Florent Malouda last night after Lyon said they had received a "strong offer" from Stamford Bridge. Officials at Chelsea would only confirm that they remain "interested" and denied claims that anyone from the club was meeting with Lyon chairman Jean-Michel Aulas.
But a spokesman for the French champions said they had received a bid, believed to be in the region of £15million, from Chelsea for the French player of the year. "Chelsea have come back with a strong offer and Jean-Michel Aulas could meet a Chelsea official in the next few hours," said the spokesman.
Malouda is a talented 27-year-old left winger who has won 28 caps for France and played in the 2006 World Cup Final, winning the seventh minute penalty converted by Zinedine Zidane. He could be the perfect replacement for Arjen Robben should Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho decide to sell the Dutchman to Real Madrid or Bayern Munich.
Shaun Wright-Phillips, bought for £21m from Manchester City in July 2005 but rarely used by Mourinho until the latter stages of last season, could also move on if the Malouda deal is completed. There will be no shortage of Premiership suitors with City, West Ham, Aston Villa and Tottenham all tracking him.
Yesterday, Malouda, who has won four French league titles with Lyon, was seen leaving the club's training camp in the Alps. But Chelsea officials, irritated by Lyon's openness during the negotiations, said nothing should be read into that, either. After forcing Chelsea to pay more than £24m for Michael Essien two years ago, Lyon may not be their favourite club and relations appear to be strained.
Aulas has certainly done Lyon's bidding in public on this occasion in an effort to increase the pressure on Chelsea. He confirmed that Malouda could leave Lyon, but only at the right price. "We will help him to leave if we get offers to the level we are expecting, but if there are not any such offers he will stay," he said.
Prior to that, Aulas appeared to be losing patience with Chelsea. Malouda has made it clear he wants to move to Stamford Bridge but Aulas said: "I told Flo that I wasn't sure the deal was going to materialise and that it was necessary he went to Tignes for our training camp. "I am not sure Chelsea have the desire or the means to call out to Florent Malouda. Peter Kenyon (Chelsea's chief executive) said to Flo he was leaving for Moscow to meet the club's owner (Roman Abramovich). Sometimes things happen quickly, but I don't feel these people really want to tie up this deal."
The likelihood, nevertheless, remains that Chelsea will now complete the signing of Malouda. -
2 French man
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For 2 Dutchman...Originally posted by sand king:2 French man
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Originally posted by zocoss:For 2 Dutchman...
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sian la nb.
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If he comes, Robben go?Originally posted by stellazio:sian la nb. -
Actually i quite like Robben in terms of his pace and trickery but i was never a fan of his sportsmanship.Originally posted by zocoss:If he comes, Robben go?
In my opinion, Robben is a better player than Malouda.
Cheers.
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Yeah true, tho he likes to dive and fake injury, he is their only player that can always come on as a sub and change the game with his runs and trickery...Originally posted by CKeer:Actually i quite like Robben in terms of his pace and trickery but i was never a fan of his sportsmanship.
In my opinion, Robben is a better player than Malouda.
Cheers.
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But he injure too much lah! Think of Neville, ferdinand or Esp. Saha.......
These are the kinds of players that give U nothing when injure!
They dun even try to play thru injury, like Drogba or Lampard ! -
the more i see the picture, the more i am irritated with his face.
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Originally posted by stellazio:the more i see the picture, the more i am irritated with his face. that picture is really a bit strange... his mouth...
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Originally posted by stellazio:the more i see the picture, the more i am irritated with his face. same same
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Reminds me of
Cheers.
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no need to get him
just get robben to stay -
Chelsea prepare to welcome Malouda and say farewell to rebel Robben.
Chelsea are closing in on the £15million signing of Lyon winger Florent Malouda as Arjen Robben's time at Stamford Bridge looks to be coming to an end. The French club have confirmed that Chelsea have made 'a strong offer' which they were considering last night and claim they are about to meet with Chelsea officials for talks.
The 27-year-old is desperate to move to Chelsea and even walked out on the club's pre-season training session yesterday only to be convinced to return later by a Lyon representative. Chelsea have already had a £12m bid for Malouda, who was voted Player of the Year in France last season, turned down by the French champions but they hope their higher offer will secure the deal.
Negotiations still might be awkward as Chelsea are dealing with chairman Jean-Michel Aulas, who made things difficult when they bought Michael Essien two years ago and ended up having to pay a massive £24.4m. Chief executive Peter Kenyon is expected to be at Cobham today for the official opening of the club's new training ground, which is believed to have cost £20m, so talks may have to wait.
But Chelsea start their pre-season tour to the USA on Monday and head coach Jose Mourinho will be keen to have any potential new signings take part in the trip. Malouda's arrival means Real Madrid look certain to have finally won their bid to sign Dutch winger Robben. The 23-year-old has only two years left on his contract at Chelsea and has refused to agree terms on a new one. It is understood that Robben's fractious relationship with Mourinho is the main cause for his desire to leave, and Madrid have convinced him to move to the Bernabeu.
The deal is also set to be worth around £15m, so Chelsea will not have to ask for funding from chairman Roman Abramovich to sign Malouda. Robben's departure will get a mixed reaction from Chelsea fans as the winger is regarded as one of the best in the world but he has been injury-prone and only started 51 Premiership games in three years at the club. -
Originally posted by CKeer:
Reminds me of
Cheers.
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Eh.... not to me though.Originally posted by CKeer:
Reminds me of
Cheers.
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how come elmo become blue?Originally posted by CKeer:
Reminds me of
Cheers.
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robben is selfish and injury prone.Originally posted by used:no need to get him
just get robben to stay
frankly i have more faith in french players.
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That is Grover la!Originally posted by sand king:how come elmo become blue?
Cheers.
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Grover. Typo?Originally posted by CKeer:That is Gover la!
Cheers.
CK -
Originally posted by SumOne:
G[b]rover. Typo?[/b] oops.
Cheers.
CK