Daniel Sturridge likely heading to Chelsea

Mancunian's will be left scratching their heads on this one as it appears that Daniel Sturridge, when he turned down the Citizens most recent contract offer, wasn't bluffing and near to inking a contract with Chelsea.

While Academy product's must be a priority for the club at all times, The Guardian is reporting that the young England U21 international was offered £55k per-week by the Man City. While this number naturally has not been substantiated by the club, unless grossly inaccurate it is peculiar comment of young Mr. Sturridge's loyalty to the club that he would leave the club at this time not to mention his business savvy. Unfortunately the young mans agents are doing him a disservice because not only would he be assured of be a fixture in Mark Hughes plans but I hasten to tell him, he can likely get by on what amounts to just under £3m per year.

Wayne Bridge deal nearing complete

Mark Hughes has confirmed that the deal to bring Wayne Bridge to Manchester City from Chelsea is nearing completion as the clubs have agreed on the transfer price, rumoured to be £12m. Speaking at the pre-Nottingham Forest FA Cup press conference, Mr. Hughes said:

“We need to speak to the boy and try to agree personal terms.

“If we can do that hopefully Wayne will be a Manchester City player, that’s the aim.

“Wayne will probably travel to Manchester this evening and hopefully negotiations will go well and he can have a medical tomorrow.”

Man City is expected to continue is blitz on talent as they look to close down the deal with Blackburn for Roque Santa Cruz within the next forty-eight hours.

Wayne Bridge deal now final

Manchester City formally announced the deal to bring English international Wayne Bridge from Chelsea. Although terms have not been discussed it is rumoured to be in the £10m range.

Of the signing Mark Hughes said via the club web-site:

“Wayne’s a player I know I played alongside him at Southampton and I saw him come through the ranks. He was an outstanding young player and he’s progressed year on year in his career.

“He’s a successful player. He’s an England international and has just played for one of the top four sides in the country.

“He’s of the right quality and he’s the type of player we need to attract. We need good players that understand this league and we’ll look to carry on in that way and add more if we can.”

Of coming over to the Citizens, the twenty-eight year old defender said:

“I’m just excited to be here and when I spoke to the Manager yesterday he told me of the exciting times ahead at the Club.

“It’s an exciting time to be at the Club with what’s happening here and I’m looking forward to putting the shirt on regularly and getting out there to show everyone what I can do.

“I’m just looking forward to getting out and playing some regular football.

“I haven’t played that much, so I’m aiming to play on a regular basis, get my fitness up to scratch and hopefully help the team climb the table and achieve big things.”

CFR Cluj efforts fall short against Chelsea

CFR Cluj ended its Champions League efforts with a 2-1 loss to Chelsea at Stamford Bridge but equally earned a great deal of respect from their peers.

Chelsea’s Michael Ballack said of Cluj:

“We knew from the first game with them how good they are – not just the result [a 0-0 draw] but their performance as well but it wasn’t just against us, Cluj also showed against Roma and Bordeaux that they can fight and play football.”

After Salomon Kalou gave Chelsea the lead five minutes before the half, the Liga 1 champions fought back and at the fifty-fifth minute Yssouf Kone headed the cross of Romanian international Cristian Panin into the net. Yet heroics were in store for Didier Drogba who scored with nineteen minutes remaining to give Chelsea the 2-1 victory.

While Cluj were impressive throughout the tournament, they unfortunately finished four and miss out on a chance for the UEFA Cup.

Toon grab a point at Stamford Bridge

With a constant barrage of attacking forces coming at them, Newcastle head at the last line of defense to deny Chelsea a goal and come away with a well-earned point in a nil draw. The star-studded pure-bred lineup of Chelsea pushed and prodded but could not breakthrough the roll-up-your sleeves grit of Newcastle. Shay Given was called-upon early and often but neither flinch nor fail in keeping the goal clean, starting first with a diving save of Frank Lampard barely eight minutes from the opening whistle. Another seven minutes later the Republic of Ireland repeated his heroics denying Florent Malouda from close range. With Chelsea void of finishing skills today the match went to the break scoreless. With the restart the high-flying Chelsea side came out thirsty to win the match but once again Shay Given, a stingy defense and the resolve of having your back against the wall proved too much.

After the match Newcastle manager Joe Kinnear said:
"It was a magnificent performance and about the best we've played as a team. Shay Given pulled off some great saves but as a team it was as good as it gets.

A great point indeed and further proof of the spirit of the game and the immeasurable nature of determination and pride in wearing the crest.

Chelsea held scoreless by CFR Cluj

Prior to the match, many were questioning if CFR Cluj could withstand the Chelsea attack and that their recent victory over Roma was a fluke. However at the end of the day, fans of the beautiful game around the world should take notice of Football in Romania as Cluj held Chelsea to a scoreless draw in-front of their highly supportive fans.

Chelsea had numerous scoring efforts, each pushed away with likely their best effort coming midway in the first half when Frank Lampard's drive was stopped with a brilliant save by Cluj 'keeper Eduard Stăncioiu. As the home squad gained confidence, they became more aggressive and came close on a number of occasions including Eugen Trică ringing a strike off the post just before the break.

After the break, Gabriel Mureşan caused immediate problems for Chelsea with a free kick from outside the box. Chelsea, desperate to score pushed their attack forward but was no match for the Cluj defense. With the match winding down, play became tighter as each squad was wary of a late strike. Man-of-the-match Eugen Trică strike with ten minutes remaining was saved by Czech Republic national Petr Čech and the match ended as a scoreless draw.

CFR Cluj v Chelsea in Champions League

Riding high after their victory over Roma, CFR Cluj faces Chelsea in Cluj-Napoca in a Champions League match later today.

The Liga I champions know that points against Chelsea will go a long way to attaining their goal of advancing to the group stage of the tournament and manager Maurizio Trombetta has the club peaking at just the right time. This past weekends draw against Steaua Bucureşti, demonstrated good technical play and rarely a defensive error between the two clubs. They will call upon a capacity ground in full support at home and the twelfth man in Gruia should not be underestimated.

Cluj is completely healthy and as shown in the Roma match, Emmanuel Culio will lead the attacking plan with fellow Argentine Sebastián Dubarbier and Côte d'Ivoire 'capped Emmanuel Koné up-front. While it might not draw a great deal of attention, against the Chelsea onslaught much will be decided in the play of Gabriel Mureşan and Eugen Trică and should be watched closely. Chelsea will have Didier Drogba back but is missing Joe Cole to injury.

CFR Cluj Champions League draw results

Ioan Andone leads CFR Cluj into the Champions League. The defending Liga I champions were draw into Group A with Roma of Italy's Serie A, Girondins de Bordeaux of France's Ligue 1 and Chelsea of England's Premier League.

Match Day One - September 16
Roma - CFR Cluj

Matchday Three - Oct 22
Girondins de Bordeaux - CFR Cluj

Matchday Five - Nov 26
CFR 1907 Cluj - AS Roma

Matchday Two - Oct 1
CFR Cluj - Chelsea FC

Matchday Four - Tuesday 4 Nov 2008
CFR Cluj - Girondins de Bordeaux

Matchday Six - Tuesday 9 Dec 2008
Chelsea - CFR Cluj