Babayaro will be Chelsea's only sale in window

Friday 07 January 2005 20:00 EST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Chelsea assistant manager Steve Clarke has warned England's top clubs that no-one else is leaving Stamford Bridge during the current transfer window.

A number of Chelsea's fringe players have been linked with possible moves to Barclays Premiership rivals since the January window opened.

But Clarke, helping to prepare Jose Mourinho's side for their third round FA Cup tie against League Two side Scunthorpe tomorrow, insists no-one is for sale.

Left-back Celestine Babayaro, who joined Newcastle, will remain the only player to leave the club and Clarke made it clear any other offers will be rejected.

Clarke said: "There's no-one going out. We've said consistently that no-one is going out during the transfer window.

"Obviously the case of Babayaro was slightly different. Baba, for his services to the club over the years, deserved the opportunity to leave during the window.

"As far as I'm aware we've had no other offers but there's no-one for sale. It doesn't matter if they make offers or not."

Chelsea added to their squad with the signing of Jiri Jarosik from CSKA Moscow for £3million on Thursday and he will make his debut against Scunthorpe at some stage during the tie.

Clarke insisted that Jarosik had always been a target even before Scott Parker was sidelined until March with a broken foot.

Chelsea initially tried to get Jarosik on loan as cover for Parker but when they discovered that was not an option, they chose to sign him on a two-and-a-half-year deal instead.

Clarke explained: "Jarosik is in the squad as his clearance has come through on time.

"He's done some light training with us over the last two days but he has not had a proper training session for three or four weeks now.

"He is short of match practice but hopefully will play some part in the match.

"We lost Parker for a considerable length of time with a broken bone in his foot and felt that Jiri gives us different options in the midfield area.

"He is a very tall boy, which gives us height in the midfield if we need it. He's a technical player and good on the ball.

"I will be very interested to see how he adapts to English football.

"He is also a very versatile player and I'm sure he will be a very good addition to our squad as we chase all the trophies we are chasing.

"Obviously there was a problem bringing him in on loan but we needed someone to strengthen the midfield area. As it was possible to get him on a permanent transfer, that's what we did.

"I first spoke with Jose about him a while ago but as the transfer window approached, he was always someone we had in mind."

Chelsea will set out on the quest for glory in their fourth competition of the season tomorrow and Clarke will be doing his best to ensure their multi-million pound stars do not become victims of a massive FA Cup shock.

Clarke knows all about Scunthorpe's fighting tradition, albeit in the League Cup, as he was a member of the Chelsea side dumped out of that competition in the late 1980s.

That two-legged defeat is a reminder that Chelsea cannot afford to take the threat from Brian Laws' promotion-chasing outfit lightly.

Clarke added: "We won't treat them lightly. I've tried to tell the players about that game. I was embarrassed we did not win over the two legs.

"It was a difficult game at Scunthorpe and I think it was 1-1 for a long period. Then the roof fell in and they scored three goals in the last five or six minutes.

"Obviously it was an embarrassing night for us at the time but it was a long time ago and things have changed dramatically at this club since then.

"We felt we could pull it back at home as we had just been relegated to the old Second Division and were going well in the league.

"But it was a big upset for us and a timely reminder for our players that cup upsets can happen."

But while Mourinho claims it is impossible to win all four competitions - the Barclays Premiership, the Champions League, the Carling and FA Cups - the Chelsea number two does concede that, given their season so far, it will be a blow not to win at least one of them.

He added: "We've never said we were going to win all four trophies.

"We approach every game as it comes. We try to win every game and see what we end up with at the end of the season.

"It's been a long time since we won a trophy but there's no more pressure on us now than there was at the start of the season.

"But if we don't win a trophy it will be a disappointment for sure."

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in