STILL MORE NEEDED

Chelsea's Chief Executive Ron Gourlay has said that the club are not finished with adding to the squad, as they are keen on two more players. Chelsea have been going on a spending spree in the summer after they have signed six attacking players already.

The total value of the summer spending has exceeded the £ 60 million mark, but it is thought that they are willing to break the £ 100 million mark with the addition of two more players. Even though Ron Gourlay failed to disclose the names of the players, he has said that fans can expect two more signings before the end of the transfer window.

Chelsea lifted the Champions League title last season. It has been the holy Grail of the owner Roman Abramovich ever since he took over the club in 2004. It was thought that Roman Abramovich could be decreasing his spending within the club after having achieved his dream. However, it has been the opposite of the thoughts after Chelsea have been extremely active in the transfer window for the first time since the early days of the Abramovich era. A number of new players have arrived at the club, while the old names like Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou have departed.

"If the right players become available at the right time we will sign them. We've done that and we are still continuing to look at one or two positions and we will see how that develops over the next couple of weeks. While we ended with a very strong season, it was clear that there were some areas where we did have to strengthen, so we knew we were always going to have to do that," said the chief executive of the club Ron Gourlay. Eden Hazard and Oscar have been the standout signings.

ENGLAND WILL PLAY LIKE CHELSEA

Tottenham midfielder Scott Parker is extremely confident that the England national team can be able to use the success that Chelsea have had in the Champions League this season as a blueprint for their success at the Euro 2012.

Despite not being one of the favourite games to win the Champions League this season, Chelsea managed to lift their first ever Champions League against all the odds.

They had defended their way to the title after having extremely defensive displays against Barcelona and Bayern Munich. Scott Parker reckons that there is no reason why the England national team could not use the same formula for success at the Euro 2012.

England certainly do not carry the favourite tag anymore after suffering a number of injury problems ahead of the competition and also losing their manager. England manager Roy Hodgson started with two victories in the friendly matches against Belgium and Norway. However, Scott Parker is extremely aware of the fact that they will be facing opposition of much better standard at the Euro 2012. England are in the group containing France and co-host Ukraine, who will be tough to get past in any major tournament.

"I think we have a real togetherness and commitment in the squad and, ultimately, that can get you a long way. We've seen that last season with Chelsea and other teams. Fundamentally, they are the main key ingredients of why we can go and progress further. It's going to be a very tough game against an Italian side that are very well prepared and organised, with individual qualities. If we carry on doing what we are doing, we can maybe upset them," said Scott Parker ahead of the quarter-final match with Italy. If England progress from this match, then they will face archrivals Germany in the semifinals.

AC DESERVE TITLE

AC Milan midfielder Kevin Prince Boetang has said that the club and the players deserve the title more than anybody else this season.

AC Milan are currently fighting with Juventus for winning the Italian Serie A title.

AC Milan managed to bring down the three point advantage Juventus had at the top of the table to just one point with only two matches remaining in the season. Kevin Prince Boetang scored the crucial goal a few weeks ago against Genoa to help the club to a 1-0 win in the dying moments as the game. It now has proven to be very crucial indeed.

The Ghanaian midfielder has said that AC Milan deserve to win the title due to the number of things that have gone against their team during the course of the season. AC Milan almost sealed their title back in February, but had a goal disallowed against Juventus.

Kevin Prince Boetang reckons that there has been many such incidents over the whole campaign. Of course, the goal against Juventus would have also meant that their competitor would have suffered the first defeat of the season, which they have managed to avoid up until now. Juventus are now 36 matches unbeaten in the season.

"We have closed the gap and our objective is to keep believing to the end. We deserve the Scudetto, despite the fact Juventus have had a good season. It is a strange campaign and we have played so many matches. I was on the bench when news filtered through that Lecce had equalised against Juve. The whole stadium just exploded. We won and they made a mistake," Boetang said after the 2-0 win over Atlanta, while Juventus only managed a 1-1 draw against bottom club Lecce. AC Milan, however, will have to face Inter Milan in one of the remaining two matches.

GOMEZ WILL SIGN

Bayern Munich forward Mario Gomez has expressed his confidence that he will be able to sign a new contract with the club within the next few months.

Mario Gomez' current contract comes to an end at the end of next season, thus making it a highly important job for the club. Mario Gomez has undoubtedly been the best player for Bayern Munich over the last few seasons since arriving from Stuttgart.

He has matured into a great player, which is quite aptly seen by the number of goals he has scored in the league and Europe this season. Bayern Munich have revealed that they want to tie up Mario Gomez to a contract until 2016.

Gomez has been in scintillating form in the last few weeks. He has scored nine goals in just the last five matches, while his total goal tally for the season stands at an impressive 23. He recently scored the winning goal against Hannover on Saturday.

Speaking after the match, Gomez expressed his confidence at being able to sign a new contract with the club. It is thought that the new deal will make Gomez one of the highest-paid players at the club. The 26-year-old revealed that talks with Bayern Munich over a potential new contract have been ongoing for a few weeks now.

"The probability of me renewing my contract is very strong. I feel good. We've had excellent discussions with Bayern and they all want an extension. It could happen very soon," he said. Gomez is one of the best players in Germany right now. He was signed from German club Stuttgart back in 2009 for € 30 million, which is the Bundesliga record. He has so far scored 36 goals in all the competitions for Bayern Munich this season, including four goals against FC Basel in the Champions League.

MANCINI INSISTS CHELSEA ARE A THREAT

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has said that Chelsea are capable of winning the title even from this position.

Chelsea are currently 10 points behind Manchester City in the table, and almost everyone have written off Chelsea's chances of catching the league leaders. However, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has said that dismissing Chelsea's chances of winning the title are premature and the 2009 Champions are still capable of putting up a real challenge for the title. Chelsea have lots of experience when it comes to Premier League title races, as they have not finished beyond the third position in the last eight years.

They have currently made an indifferent start to this season with heavy losses to Manchester United, Arsenal, and Liverpool. They have made Chelsea be 10 points behind the leaders Manchester City. However, the match between the League leaders and Chelsea on Monday night at Stamford Bridge will provide Andre Villas-Boas' men with the perfect opportunity to close the gap.

It will be a great tough contest between the two teams because Chelsea have a great record at Stamford Bridge against Manchester City, while the Manchester club is currently unbeaten in the Premier League. Their unbeaten run stretches to over 14 games and it will take a great effort to beat the side according to Roberto Mancini.

"I think they can win it. They have 10 points less than us but we play two times against them and there are 24 games [left]. The Premier League is very difficult and, in these two months, all the teams that play every three days will find it difficult," Mancini said. Andre Villas-Boas has come under intense criticism for these tactics in recent weeks, but they have just achieved two successive 3-0 wins in a row.

UNITED A TEAM IN TRANSITION

Manchester United are, at present, a team in deep transition. There have been severe highs and lows throughout their campaign so far this season, with the barely believable 8 - 2 demolition of Arsenal at Old Trafford, and the embarrassment of losing 1 - 6 to neighbours Manchester City, alongside their abysmal Champions League run which ended in them missing the failing to make it out of their group for the first time since 2005.

With a series of young players being more prominent in United’s make up this season, namely Phil Jones, Danny Welbeck and Ashley Young, their sensational start to the season was a surprise to some who expect the revised team to take a while to find their feet. These are all players with undoubtable talent, but it will take some time for them to settle in at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson remains a wily operator, so you would expect him to get the most out of his players, and use their shockingly early Champions League exit as a source of motivation for his players.

The Premier League is still very much within Manchester United’s grasp, and with Sir Alex Ferguson’s experience of winning titles, Manchester City’s present 5 point lead is nothing to be overwhelmed by.

In the January transfer market, it is unlikely any major purchases will be made. Despite continued rumours linking them with Wesley Sneijder, it appears unlikely that Sir Alex will pay the sizeable sum that would be required to lure him to Old Trafford. There is also a lot of expectation resting on Tom Cleverley’s shoulders, as he is a man who is being mooted as being not only the future of Manchester United, but also of England, so his return from injury will provide United with a boost.

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