What exactly were Chelsea up to in this transfer window?

Here we all were focused on the fight for Robinho – our attention only diverted by the apparent ‘battle’ between Manchester’s United and City for the signature of Dimitar Berbatov – and yet it appears there might have been something we all missed.

Strangely enough, amid all the chaos of the afternoon with Mark Hughes suggesting he was awaiting Berbatov’s arrival and the supporters running around outside ‘Far Eastlands’ with sheets draped over their heads and the new owners throwing bids around at every player with a price tag over the £30million mark, I found the whole thing quite amusing. All was quiet on the Chelsea/Robinho front and although it fleetingly crossed my mind they could have a punt on Robinho next, it all seemed a bit too late for even their billions to sort a deal there – so I thought I’d have a bit of a giggle.

So, whilst updating a particular United supporter on the latest reports, I thought I’d throw in an “Oh my god, Chelsea have put in a bid for Berbatov.” Highly amusing I thought – especially when it produced exactly the reaction I expected it to – expletives and all.

Of course it was never likely, after all, it was Robinho Chelsea were after. He was the only player (other than Deco) Scolari had identified as being able to enhance the squad. He was the player with the ability to play as a striker or a winger, giving us the attacking option we were missing. So naturally, he wouldn’t have been interested in Berbatov, I was just having a bit of fun.

However, as we all now know, Chelsea supporters weren’t laughing as the transfer window slammed shut, Manchester City on the other hand were still wetting themselves with the excitement of it all and United supporters – well, as is very often the case, they were feeling pretty satisfied with yet another good buy, thankyou very much.

And only then, in the aftermath of the day’s pretty unexpected events, whilst United supporters were wondering why they ever doubted Berbatov would make the right decision and City supporters were still congratulating themselves on getting a player who in all honesty would’ve signed for just about any club on the day, we hear a whisper that Robinho wasn’t the only player Chelsea had their sights on after all.

You see, while I was busy consuming myself with bitterness over Man City (not because they’d come into the sort of money that makes even Abramovich’s millions look like loose change, but because they snuck in the back door and hijacked a deal Chelsea had spent months trying to pull off), what I didn’t know was that Chelsea were apparently trying to do exactly the same thing to Manchester United.

Little did I know at the time, but my ‘joke’ really wasn’t as wide of the mark as I thought because, in his first interview as a Manchester United player, Berbatov drops this little bombshell “If I wanted to play for money I would have accepted Manchester City’s offer or Chelsea’s offer.”

However, if there’s one thing Chelsea supporters have learnt as the last five years have gone on – and City are still to discover – there are some things in life money just can’t buy!

Filed under: Rants, Rivals