[Bluesummers]

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari has admitted that the club may sell Didier Drogba, provided they receive the right offer.

The Ivorian appears to have fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge after a poor showing in last weekend’s 0-3 defeat to Manchester United at Old Trafford.

The striker has been dropped for Chelsea’s last two games, the 4-1 win against Southend United in the FA Cup in midweek, and yesterday’s 2-1 win over Stoke City in the Premier League.

Manager Scolari has now revealed that whilst Drogba may return to the side for next weekend’s FA Cup clash with Ipswich, if the club were to receive a suitable offer for their striker they would be tempted to sell him.

Speaking to setanta.com the Brazilian explained: “Sell him? It’s my choice but I think if someone offers a lot of money, the club might accept it. He still trains very hard and could be in my side next week – but I make the decisions.”

The Chelsea boss also insisted that this applied to all of his players and not just Drogba. He said: “If people offer money for my players, it’s down to the club to accept them.”

With Drogba left out of yesterday’s squad, Scolari handed youngsters Miroslav Stoch and Franco Di Santo the chance to impress, and the pair, on as second half substitutes, both played their part in hauling the Blues back from a goal down to win 2-1 courtesy of two late goals.

Speaking about their contribution, Scolari hinted that they may get further chances in the first team. He said: “Over a five-year period, I’m the only manager here that has given players like [Miroslav] Stoch and [Franco] Di Santo their chance and I want to continue that.”

Galliani wanna offer 5 mil please and sign him asap thanx.

[Zed.D]

I completely disagree with you, acid. no disrespect at all intended to Gila and Pippo, but they are poachers. they need others to provide them with opportunities or they will end 90% of games without doing anything noteworthy. putting Pato's name in the same line is a little like underestimating his abilities. it's true Pato scores Pippo-like goals (the 1st against Roma), but he can also create a goal opportunity and score out of nothing (the 2nd goal against Roma). so far he has scored more Pippo-like goals, but just as I had no doubt Pato would make it here two years ago, I have no doubt that we will see more wonder goals by him in the future.

While I know Pato is not a target man and will never be that, I now have no doubt that he can be the focal point of every team's attack once he reaches his prime [note that he's a kind of player that will reach his prime MUCH sooner than most players - I'd say by the age of 23 (or maybe sooner) he will be a monster!]. Ronaldo wasn't a target man [a la Toni, Drogba, Nistelrooy, etc.] because he wasn't a header of the ball, yet he could be any team's lone striker. so unless we're just looking for a guy who is an excellent header, it's understandable that Pato does not exactly fit the bill. but I can't think of any other characteristic that he lacks or will not gain/improve at in the future. I know I'm making myself look like silly fanboy, but that's what I really think about him. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)


* I think target men are not fast, nor need to be.

This post has been edited by Zed.D: Jan 21 2009, 07:28 AM