Chelsea complete Deco deal

CHELSEA last night confirmed the signing of Portugal midfielder Deco from Barcelona.

The 30-year-old has agreed the move to Stamford Bridge, becoming the club’s first signing since Portugal coach Luiz Felipe Scolari was appointed manager.

The west Londoners are expected to confirm they have paid £8million (€11m) to sign the two-time Champions League winner on a two-year deal.

The talented playmaker had recently been told by the Catalan club he did not feature in their future plans and had been linked with a move to the Blues regularly in recent years.

The Brazil-born player’s exit from the Nou Camp proved to be protracted due to the Catalans’ valuation of around £11m (€14m) for the player, despite his age.

That price tag seemed to have deterred Inter Milan – who were also apparently interested – but Chelsea have managed to negotiate the price down.

Jose Mourinho, who coached him during their time at Porto, was linked with the diminutive schemer on numerous occasions during his Stamford Bridge tenure, and was reportedly interested in signing him after taking over at Inter recently.

Deco’s arrival is Chelsea’s second signing of the summer, following the £16.3m (€20.6m) acquisition of international teammate Jose Bosingwa from Porto.

New coach Scolari starts work at Chelsea this morning and will undoubtedly be happy with the club’s transfer business so far.

Deco’s arrival significantly boosts a midfield line-up already featuring the likes of Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Michael Essien, Mikel Jon Obi and Claude Makelele.

Scolari will have a busy first week ahead of him before the players report back for pre-season training but Lampard’s future will be a top priority.

The Brazilian has already been linked with a number of transfer targets, the latest of which is Real Madrid forward Robinho.

But he has the unenviable task of persuading both defender Ricardo Carvalho and Lampard to remain as part of the Chelsea squad. Lampard has one year remaining on his current contract and the holidaying midfielder seemingly refused to rule out a move to Inter Milan when quizzed over his future.

The Blues insist they have received no bids from any club for the England international despite reports suggesting Inter Milan are ready to offer him a four-year deal worth £7.1 million (€9m).

Lampard, 30, is currently enjoying the sun with his wife and children on a luxury yacht cruising off the coast of Italy. And he looked happy and relaxed as he ate an ice cream and browsed stalls at a street market in Taormina near Catania, Sicily.

“Inter? Let’s wait and see,” said Lampard when questioned about a proposed move. “For the moment I am here on holiday with my family. My future at Chelsea? I don’t know anything yet. Italy is a beautiful country but I am not due to meet anyone here.”

Scolari also looks as though he could lose defender Carvalho, another target for former Blues boss Mourinho at Inter.

Chelsea were planning to hold contract talks with the Portugal international, but negotiations have been delayed as the player only just started a holiday because of his involvement in Euro 2008.

Chelsea continue to be linked with new acquisitions and reports in Spain suggest they are ready to make a £27m (€34m) move for Robinho.

Scolari is thought to have targeted the 24-year-old forward who he knew well during his time as coach of Brazil.

The player’s agent, Wagner Ribeiro, has already claimed to have met Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon for talks in May, although he may have used them as a bargaining tool to try and get his client a better wage deal at Madrid. Robinho’s first choice would be to remain with the Spanish club but he wants them to significantly increase his wages, and Chelsea would have no problem in offering him the desired terms.