Robben relishing Chelsea challenge
Chelsea winger Arjen Robben is happy to stay at Stamford Bridge despite being linked with a move to Real Madrid.
The Spanish club’s new president Ramon Calderon promised to sign the Holland international during his successful election campaign.
His comments infuriated the Premiership champions who immediately denied that Robben was for sale.
Now Robben is expecting to play a major part in Chelsea’s season as they look for a third successive Premiership title under coach Jose Mourinho.
Robben said on Sky Sports News: “I think the new players who have come in have a lot of qualities which is great for our team, so I’m really looking forward to playing with all of them.
“There are also the players who stayed and I think we just have a very good team. I’m just very happy to be here and to be involved in such a great team.”
Meanwhile, John Terry believes Chelsea have the ability to defend their title despite the changes to the squad.
Encouraged by the signings of Michael Ballack and Andriy Shevchenko, the Chelsea skipper – who could also be named England captain on Friday – is already looking forward to another exciting campaign at home and abroad.
Terry said: “When you look at the side, we lost some great players, but we also added some fantastic players as well.
“Looking at it on paper, it looks very strong and very good, but we still have to go out there and do the business on the pitch.
“We have got some massive players here – Michael and Sheva are two great signings.
“Hopefully, Sheva is going to bang in a few goals, and there is Michael as well, with Lamps in midfield, and they could be a dominant force. I’m looking forward to seeing them all play together.”
But Chelsea’s star-studded squad appears to have cost them the chance to sign Marseille’s 19-year-old defender Mehdi Benatia.
He turned down the chance to join the English champions and reportedly pointed to the failure of Shaun Wright-Phillips to secure a first-team place last season as one of the major reasons for doing so.
Benatia opted to move on loan to Ligue 2 side Tours for a season instead, adding that he did not want to be a substitute at Chelsea.
Benatia claims he was offered a three-year contract after spending time training at the club, but argued that Chelsea “don’t trust young players”, citing the example of Shaun Wright-Phillips who started only 10 league matches last season after a £21m move from Manchester City.
“I could earn a lot of money there, but I would stay on the bench, and living that situation abroad, that is not what I want,” Benatia said on skysports.com.
“Chelsea are impressive, but I am young and I need to play and to compete, that is what I want.
“Marseille have loaned me in order to permit me to prove my skills and to show people I can play football.
“My first objective is to have a great season with Ligue 2 side Tours, to help them to avoid relegation, because the staff and the chairman are fantastic.”
Meanwhile, Ballack has revealed how he came to be allocated the number 13 shirt which William Gallas wore last season.
Ballack wore the number for previous clubs Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich as well as the German national team.
French defender Gallas, who upset the club by not attending their pre-season training camp in America, is understood to have been less than impressed with Mourinho’s decision.
However, Ballack said: “I played in Leverkusen and Munich with the number 13. I wanted it here, too, but the coach said to me it’s not possible because William Gallas now has this number.
“For me, this was okay and I get 19. A few days ago, he (Jose Mourinho) came to me and says, ‘Do you want 13?’. That was okay, I was surprised, but happy.”
