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Chelsea unveils five new summer signings
London, Aug 02: Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri unveils the English premier league club`s five summer signings.
London, Aug 02: Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri unveils the English premier league club's five summer signings.
Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri officially unveiled the English premier league club's five summer signings on Friday (August 1) and vowed to build a championship winning side. The Italian said the signings of Damien Duff, Geremi, Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge and goalkeeper Marco Ambrosio were a major step towards joining the big league. The west London club's spending spree has so far topped 37 million pounds ($59.32 million) and has been made possible by the club's new owner Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. But Ranieri knows money alone will not guarantee success. "The chairman, Ken Bates, said you can buy the players but not the wins. It's important to work hard and I will work hard for sure," he said.
"For me it is very important to build a group, to build a squad. I said Manchester (United), Arsenal, Liverpool are better than us because they have had bigger squads for a long time. We are building a very, very good team, now we can put other new champions (in the team). For me it is very important to close the gap between us and the other three biggest teams."
Chelsea's record signing, 17-million-pound Damien Duff, said he tried not to think about the price on his head and just wanted to concentrate on playing football.
The Ireland winger said he had thought long and hard about leaving Blackburn to join Chelsea.
"I'd no reason really to leave Blackburn, I was playing every week and was very happy up there, I loved it up there," the 24-year-old said. "It was the biggest decision of my life and it took about a week or so to make it and I think I made the right one and I'm looking forward to it," he said.
Bureau Report
Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri officially unveiled the English premier league club's five summer signings on Friday (August 1) and vowed to build a championship winning side. The Italian said the signings of Damien Duff, Geremi, Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge and goalkeeper Marco Ambrosio were a major step towards joining the big league. The west London club's spending spree has so far topped 37 million pounds ($59.32 million) and has been made possible by the club's new owner Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich. But Ranieri knows money alone will not guarantee success. "The chairman, Ken Bates, said you can buy the players but not the wins. It's important to work hard and I will work hard for sure," he said.
"For me it is very important to build a group, to build a squad. I said Manchester (United), Arsenal, Liverpool are better than us because they have had bigger squads for a long time. We are building a very, very good team, now we can put other new champions (in the team). For me it is very important to close the gap between us and the other three biggest teams."
Chelsea's record signing, 17-million-pound Damien Duff, said he tried not to think about the price on his head and just wanted to concentrate on playing football.
The Ireland winger said he had thought long and hard about leaving Blackburn to join Chelsea.
"I'd no reason really to leave Blackburn, I was playing every week and was very happy up there, I loved it up there," the 24-year-old said. "It was the biggest decision of my life and it took about a week or so to make it and I think I made the right one and I'm looking forward to it," he said.
Bureau Report