LONDON -- According to various back-page "exclusives" over the past week, Chelsea is buying Walter Samuel (Roma -- £15 million), David Beckham and Ronaldo (Real Madrid -- combined fee of £100,000 million), Ronaldinho (Barcelona -- £60 million), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool -- £30 million) and any other player who scores a goal, completes a pass or makes a decent tackle this weekend.
Its current first-team squad comprises around 30 players and only Winston Bogarde, Emmanuel Petit and Marcel Desailly, whose contracts end this summer, are likely to leave Stamford Bridge.