Chelsea have kicked off Carlo Ancelotti’s reign in spectacular style by luring Daniel Sturridge from Manchester City and preparing a £45million bid for another wonderkid, AC Milan’s Alexandre Pato.
They have moved to revitalise their ageing squad by signing the highly-rated 19-year-old striker, who was out of contract at Eastlands, and moving for Brazil forward Pato, also 19, who played for manager Ancelotti in Italy.
The Italian has also convinced owner Roman Abramovich to perform a U-turn over Didier Drogba and offer the striker a new three-year contract despite his outburst after Chelsea were knocked out of the Champions League by Barcelona.
Ancelotti does not officially start until next month but he is urgently restructuring the club’s attack and may not yet have given up on Kaka, his favourite player from AC Milan, who is thought to prefer a move to Spain.
Real Madrid thought they had struck a world record £54m deal for the Brazilian last night after agreeing a five-year contract worth £148,000-a-week net, but reports in Spain claimed Chelsea were trying to hijack the deal.
England Under 20 striker Sturridge has become the first signing of the new regime on a free after City refused to meet his £55,000-aweek wage demands. He made 16 Premier League appearances last season and scored four goals but Chelsea sporting director Frank Arnesen has been after him for three years.
Pato has been seen as Kaka’s replacement for club and country and his signing would be a real coup.
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