Chelsea manager not in any hurry

IF there is going to be a revolution under Andre Villas-Boas at Chelsea it is becoming increasingly clear it will be a quiet and patient one; both on the pitch and in the transfer market.

Chelsea began their pre-season campaign at Portsmouth on Saturday with a rather uninspiring 1-0 victory secured by an own goal from Tal Be Haim; but if Villas-Boas has any concerns about a squad that stuttered so frustratingly last season then he isn’t showing it.

The Portuguese coach takes his side on tour to Asia today, ready for four matches that will help him decide who to keep and who to sell ahead of the new Premier League season in August. But although he confirmed a deal has been concluded to bring goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to London from Belgian club Genk, Chelsea’s pursuit of Luka Modric, Scott Parker, Falcao, Neymar, Kaka and Wesley Sneijder appears to be far more leisurely.

In stark contrast to Manchester United, who had virtually wrapped up their summer business before a cricket ball had even been bowled, Chelsea are playing a waiting game and seem remarkably comfortable to do so, despite a knee injury to Michael Essien that will keep him out for six months and has left his team short of options in midfield.

“Bearing in mind it was already a sector we were looking to strengthen we may have to move in the market for it,” admitted Villas-Boas, who manages to appear intense and yet relaxed in the same moment. “But there should not be too much fuss on the time we are going to take. We must just choose the right person bearing in mind the philosophies that we want to implement.

“There’s plenty of time in the market still.”

Chelsea begin their tour of Asia with a match against Malaysia on Thursday before taking on a Thailand XI on July 24 and then two games in the Asia Cup in Hong Kong on July 27 and 30.

“I have 15 days in Asia and I think I need those four games to continue to assess,” said Villas-Boas. “When we get back from Asia we have a week running into the Rangers game and from then on I think decisions have to be taken to be ready for the opening game of the season. But it doesn’t mean we won’t be active after that because the market always gets frenetic in the last days and you never know what can happen.”

Already Chelsea’s chase for Modric appears to have hit problems, despite an increased offer of £30m — largely because Tottenham are so reluctant to sell; and although owner Roman Abramovich is willing to finance big-money transfers it seems he is less happy to pay the kind of inflated prices that are routine for rivals Manchester City.

“If it happens it happens and if it doesn’t it doesn’t and we will respect any position Tottenham take,” said Villas-Boas.

The Chelsea manager also appeared to rule out signings from his former club Porto, including striker Falcao, when he said: “Porto have a lot of fantastic players and top quality talent; but they are known as being one of the most expensive clubs for selling their players — they protect themselves with high release clauses and it’s difficult for us to move into that market, into that situation.”

So perhaps Chelsea fans hoping for a spectacular revolution at the Bridge should begin to temper their expectations.