Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck has thrown in the towel as The Blues lose steam on Ronaldinho Chase.

The official at Stamford Bridge was frank and truthful about his team's chances of signing Ronaldinho next season, and his response showed that not much hope was being entertained by the English side, after a hail of rumours and counter-rumors greeted the news of transfer surrounding the Brazilian in recent times. In latest reaction to the possibility of Ronnie moving to Chelsea FC, Bruce said:

I don't see it being likely that Ronaldinho will be here next year. Anything was a possibility and certainly there had been rumours and discussions of that, but I don't see it happening.

The main reason the Chairman gave was that:

We are looking to balance some losses at the club, and a player like Ronaldinho will blow up the already huge money spent in recent years on buying new players. We have to focus on less expensive players and hope they will become of great value to us in the future when we want to sell them.

However, the real reason Chelsea may not be continuing their chase for the Barca star is believed to be the outright refusal of FC Barcelona to sit down on the negotiation table with Chelsea FC for talks on a possible transfer of the Brazilian super star.

Barca flavour is desperately sought at Newcastle United as revival exercise continues.

FC Barcelona's Portuguese star, Deco Anderson tops the wish-list produced by Newcastle coach, Kevin Keegan, after the coach made a return to the Magpies technical bench. Deco was on the cards of the English Premiership clubside during last summer's transfer pursuits, and billionaire owner Mike Ashley is ready to wave his cash magic wand and have Keegan's wishes granted, and this promise of cash has spurred Keegan on. The Newcastle wish list includes Tottenham's Jermain Defoe, Chelsea's Shaun Wright-Phillips and Wayne Bridge, Celtic's Scott Brown, Bayern's Daniel van Buyten and Manchester United's Wes Brown among others.

Deco, who is no doubt a great player by any standards, has not been able to tie down a regular place in FC Barcelona due to a combination of injury and other top players in same position, and the Magpies want to cash in on this to succeed in their bid this time after attempts to open talks with the Brazilian born Portuguese international failed to yield result last August. Now the Barca star is back from injury and fully fit, much to the delight of FC Barcelona - and Newcastle United.

Ivorien national team star Toure Yaya has reportedly confirmed country mate Drogba's interest in FC Barcelona.

The news of Drogba's discontent with Chelsea FC and his rising interest to play in Spain is old news. However, the story has taken a different and more specific angle since the Chelsea FC big man indicated in a reported press statement that that he wanted to play for Barca. Since then, it's been a constant look in at Camp Nou as a flood of attention from the world press, especially from England has greeted Drogba's alleged confession of a secret admiration and fantasy with life and soccer at Camp Nou. Drogba's team mate in the Ivorien national team, Toure Yaya has now confirmed the interested and love struck Drogba is for real. Toure and Drogba have been having very close talks over the past week, as both are in the Ivorien national team camp for the African Nations Cup in Ghana. Now FC Barcelona player Toure reveals more details from their heart-to-heart discussions:

Drogba loves Barcelona very much and wants to play for the club. He has said this to me and I know he wants to come to Barca. We have spoken about Barcelona, and it all looks very good. Of course, it will be difficult, because Madrid and Milan are also after him. In my opinion, it would be very good if he were to join us, because we have lots of great players and he would be another one of them. He is a player with quality and one that can help the team.

The news of Drogba's imminent transfer out of Chelsea FC is expected to climax this summer. AC Milan, Real Madrid and Inter Milan are all thought to be interested in signing the top scorer at Stamford Bridge.

Jose Manuel Pinto gets the nod as FC Barcelona take decision on Jorquera's replacement.


The Celta Vigo keeper has long been associated with the Catalan giants after the initial list of Santi Cañizares, Sander Westerveld and even Jens Lehmann was not producing any likely replacement for injured Albert Jorquera. The safe hands, who has also featured regularly in top rated matches over the past years will be jetting to Camp Nou for a medical, after which, if successful, will earn him a six month loan deal with FC Barcelona. The agreement will have an option of conversion to full time keeper status in the event that reserve keeper Albert Jorquera doesn't recover from his injury during the summer transfer season. Pinto is expected to provide adequate cover for first choice at Barca, Victor Valdes, and the Celta Vigo keeper who is top form, will also not be a bad bet to fill in Valdes gloves when the need arises, even if the occassion is not a Copa del Rey encounter. Jorquera was the top choice for Copa del Rey matches as well as Copa Catalunya and other tournaments, while Valdes is the first choice for the La Liga and Champions League matches.

Both Valdes and Pinto are expected to compliment each other very much, as the 32 year old Pinto prepares to become a member of the Blaugrana family, a thing he may not have thought could be possible this year.

The last has not been heard of the bullish run by the Blues.

After Chelsea's talisman, Didier Drogba stirred the hornet's nest by suggesting he should move to FC Barcelona, the English media have taken over from the Ivorien and sold firstly Ronaldinho, then now Lionel Messi to the Stamford Bridge team in exchange for their top marksman, Drogba. A new entrant in the British press transfer market is now FIFA Best Player for 2008, Kaka of AC Milan. Lionel Messi is the second best player in the world as declared by an official FIFA vote last month, and the gifted left-footer is being coverted by many clubs including Chelsea FC. With a growing interest of Didier Drogba leaning toward FC Barcelona, there's mounting pressure on the officials at Camp Nou to take step toward realizing Drogba's dreams over the summer. No official word has been heard from the Catalan giants, but of course, a deal to sell Messi is non-negotiable, just as much as a deal to sell someone line creative Andres Iniesta who Chelsea also find very suitable for their campaign in 2008/09 season.

This wave of news, rumours and insinuation is a sure appetizer toward the forthcoming European transfer season in Summer this year!