Chelsea will clear out up to eight of their first-team squad this summer in
what is expected to be the most radical overhaul yet of a team who could be
crowned European champions on 21 May. The club plan on thinning down their
first-team squad considerably, with yesterday's new signing Jose Bosingwa
one of a maximum of four new names that the manager, Avram Grant, expects to
bring to Stamford Bridge.
The captain of Everton, Phil Neville, yesterday said it would be "a
major disaster" if Everton did not spend more heavily this summer on
players the Premier League's top four clubs aspire to buy.
Sven Goran Eriksson survived a meeting with Thaksin Shinawatra's senior aide
on Sunday evening, but has been denied the prompt resolution he sought on
his future and instead left to fly out to Thailand with the first team squad
tonight on a 12-day club tour.
New Chelsea signing: Jose Bosingwa
How interesting, and rather telling, it was to see the reaction of Avram
Grant almost at the very moment it was confirmed that a quite stunning
achievement had been denied him.
The Manchester United chief executive, David Gill, yesterday reflected on
what last summer's £50m had delivered for the club this season and promised
the manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, money to build yet again.
Sir Alex Ferguson will just have to hope things do not prove so tight next
May because the secrets of his 11th-hour sleights of hand are out in the
open.
Rafael Benitez, the Liverpool manager, has risked further upsetting Martin
O'Neill by suggesting yesterday that his Aston Villa counterpart should come
to terms with the prospect of losing his captain Gareth Barry.
Kevin Keegan might be resigned to a fate among the also-rans but Everton
alone have given the Premier League aristocrats a run for their money this
season and they were rewarded for that yesterday with the Uefa Cup place
that Aston Villa had threaten to steal.
As it turned out, Everton's victory yesterday ensured Villa could not claim
automatic Uefa Cup qualification, and Tottenham's defeat meant West Ham
would finish in the top half of the Premier League table whatever. But two
sides who were surely aware of the relevant results before they left the
pitch nevertheless produced the kind of open, eventful match for which Upton
Park has become celebrated over the years.
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