Of more concern to Ancelotti at the moment than trading barbs with Mourinho is holding on to England captain and Chelsea icon John Terry. Manchester City already has had a $45-million offer for the defender rejected and is now preparing a $52-million bid.
Terry is sitting pretty in all of this. City wants to pay him between $243,000 and $324,000 a week. Even if Chelsea rejects any deal, the worst Terry can do is get a decent bump in salary.
"He is not available at any price," Peter Kenyon, Chelsea's chief executive, said last week. "He's told us he doesn't want to go and we don't want him to go. End of story."
If Terry is on the plane to the U.S. on Thursday, maybe it will be. But there is no guarantee. He is looking for a meeting with Chelsea's Russian billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich. Money will no doubt be the topic.
Meanwhile, Ancelotti has made a decent signing by acquiring Russia winger Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow for $29 million. The prospect of seeing Zhirkov and Inter's Brazilian international defender Maicon going against each other on the wing should be worth a trip to the Rose Bowl.
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Arsenal's gloom
Is Arsene Wenger's team becoming irrelevant?
Only five years ago, inspired by Wenger and powered by Thierry Henry's 30 goals, Arsenal completed an unbeaten season while winning the Premier League.
Last season it finished a distant fourth, and its only significant off-season moves to date have been the acquisition of Belgian international defender Thomas Vermaelen from Ajax Amsterdam for just under $17 million and the signing of Dutch goal scorer Robin van Persie, 25, to a new long-term contract.
Stan Kroenke, owner of the NBA's Denver Nuggets and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and co-owner of the NFL's St. Louis Rams, on Friday increased his ownership share in the Gunners to 28.58%, making him the majority owner.
Ivan Gazidis, former deputy commissioner of Major League Soccer and now Arsenal's chief executive, said he did not foresee Arsenal getting involved in what he termed "an inflated transfer market."
"Instead," he said, "the focus continues to be on securing the services of talented young players we have on long-term contracts and making very selective acquisitions, only where a new signing will add real value to our already strong squad."
Looks like fourth place again in 2010.
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grahame.jones@latimes.com
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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
England's Big Four in 2008-09
*--* Finish Club Played Won Lost Tied GF GA Diff. Points 1 Man. United 38 28 4 6 68 24 44 90 2 Liverpool 38 25 2 11 77 27 50 86 3 Chelsea 38 25 5 8 68 24 44 83 4 Arsenal 38 20 6 12 68 37 31 71 *--*
WHERE THEIR GOALS CAME FROM
Manchester United: Cristiano Ronaldo (18), Wayne Rooney (12), Dimitar Berbatov (9), Carlos Tevez (5) / 64.7%
Liverpool: Steven Gerrard (16), Fernando Torres (14), Dirk Kuyt (12), Yossi Benayoun (8) / 64.9%
Chelsea: Nicolas Anelka (19), Frank Lampard (12), Salomon Kalou (6), Florent Malouda (6), Didier Drogba (5) / 70.5%
Arsenal: Robin van Persie (11), Emmanuel Adebayor (10), Nicklas Bendtner (9), Andrei Arshavin (6), Samir Nasri (6) / 61.7%
Source: English Premier League
