Duff in £17m Chelsea switch

DAMIEN DUFF has completed his £17m move to Chelsea from Blackburn Rovers.

The Republic of Ireland winger finally put pen to paper on a five-year deal worth a reported £70,000-a-week after spending several days considering the offer.

Duff becomes the fourth big signing in new owner Roman Abramovich's Blue revolution which has seen Real Madrid midfielder Geremi, West Ham full-back Glen Johnson and Southampton defender Wayne Bridge all sign up. Last night, the winger explained why he had deliberated for so long on the move to Stamford Bridge. "This was probably the biggest decision of my life and I didn't want to rush it," he said. Duff raised speculation that Manchester United might come in with a counter-bid after asking for the weekend to think over his Chelsea move, even though he had met and been impressed by coach Claudio Ranieri, agreed a salary and the clubs had settled on the fee.

He added: "It was just a matter of thinking everything through. I had seven great years at Blackburn and there was no big reason to move but in the end I decided a big new challenge was necessary." Duff, 24, will link up with Chelsea in the next 48 hours and fly to Malaysia where his new team-maters are taking part in the Premier League Asia Cup.

He said: "I'm really looking forward to meeting them all and playing for my new club. It looks as though great things are going to happen at Chelsea." Duff's £17m signing takes new Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's spending to £36.9m in less than a fortnight and £24m in a day. Geremi, on loan at Middlesbrough last season, was the first to arrive for £6.9m shortly followed by Johnson for £6m.

The left-hand side of the defence was strengthened with the acquisition of England full-back Wayne Bridge from Southampton for £7m and Duff followed hours later.

Chelsea have been pursuing Duff ever since Russian billionaire Abramovich made his multi-million pound signing a possibility by taking over the Stamford Bridge club from Ken Bates. However, prior to that the Blues were never in the running as Liverpool appeared favourites but Gerard Houllier was told his £10m bid did not come close to activating the £17m release clause in the Irishman's contract. The Anfield club's withdrawal was confirmed when they signed Harry Kewell from Leeds for a cut-price £5m but it alerted Chelsea, who had three rebuttals from Ewood Park as they attempted to capture Duff.

However, a final offer of £17m was enough to persuade Blackburn to agree to a transfer, although Duff appeared reticent as he spent five days mulling over the move.

Manchester United were believed to have held a long-term interest although not at £17m and there was a suggestion that the collapse of their attempt to sign Brazilian Ronaldinho would see them try to hijack Chelsea's bid.

However, Old Trafford chief executive Peter Kenyon yesterday ruled out any move for the Republic of Ireland international, removing any doubts Duff may have had about holding out for a better offer.