There’s been plenty of speculation around who’s signature new Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti would capture first, but it’s probably fair to say the fact that it was Michael Ballack’s – in a one-year extension to his current contract – won’t exactly have whipped the press into a frenzy.

Ballack, who joined us in 2006, has certainly made it clear he wanted to see out his career at Chelsea and after signing the extension, stated “I am very happy to be staying at Chelsea for one more year as it was always my intention to play in London at least until the World Cup in 2010. We had a fantastic end to the season winning the FA Cup and we are all looking forward to taking this success into the new season under Carlo Ancelotti, our new manager.”

The club meanwhile, issued a statement saying “Michael has been a key member of our team for three years so we are naturally very happy that we have agreed the extension.”

It shouldn’t come as a surprise to any of us really seeing as Ancelotti’s hardly averse to the over 30s, the only question really is: What sort of deal did he get? Because with no details released we can only question, bearing in mind his lack of form at the end of last season, whether the club went with the ‘performance-based’ type of contract that was talked about in January?

Filed under: Current Players, Rants