Cash won't win City title, warns Kalou

Posted Tuesday, August 03, 2010 by theguardian.com

Cash won't win City title, warns Kalou
Chelsea's Salomom Kalou in action against Eintracht Frankfurt.

Salomon Kalou has told Manchester City they cannot buy this season's Premier League title. The Chelsea winger has watched his club act slowly so far in the summer transfer market, although they are on the brink of a €22m (£18.2m) deal for the Benfica midfielder Ramires, whereas City have spent £80m with the promise of more to come.

But Kalou believes the sense of continuity and togetherness at Stamford Bridge makes them a formidable proposition. He said Chelsea, the champions and FA Cup holders, will be the team to beat this time out.

"Manchester City did the same thing last summer," Kalou said, reflecting on the £100m-plus spree at Eastlands. "I don't know if they'll be stronger, I'm not sure. Just because you bring in 10 new players, it doesn't mean you're going to be on top of the table.

"There are still teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool who will always be at the top. Manchester City can do well because they have brought good players in this year but the reality is on the pitch. You can have 10 new players and it doesn't guarantee you anything.

"It's good to keep the same team. This is the squad that won the league and FA Cup double last season. We know how to win. We'll try to bring some youth players through and they will show their quality. From there, we will have a good squad ready for the Premier League and Champions League.

"We are still the team to beat; we are the champions. But everyone will come hard to try to beat us. Since I've joined Chelsea [in 2006], we always fight with Manchester for the title. This year, we will be fighting with four good teams – Manchester, Liverpool, Arsenal and Manchester City."

Chelsea face the prospect of having their squad trimmed by the Premier League's new rule which states clubs must name at least eight home-grown players in a senior squad of no more than 25.

The manager Carlo Ancelotti has only five home-grown players (John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Michael Mancienne and Ross Turnbull), meaning he stands to start the season with a senior squad of 22.

The arrival of Ramires, the 23-year-old who played for Brazil in the World Cup finals, would force Ancelotti to get rid of one of his 17 senior overseas players, with the expectation it would be the midfielder Deco, who is poised to move back to his native Brazil.

Ancelotti would have been able to include a sixth home-grown player in Joe Cole but the midfielder was released at the end of June, with Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti.

The Premier League rule, though, permits an unlimited number of under-21s to supplement the squad and there is excitement at Chelsea that the club's young players are in line to enjoy the opportunity. The pick of the crop is the attacking midfielder Gaël Kakuta, who helped France's under-19s to European Championship final glory against Spain last Friday.

Ancelotti has the defenders Jeffrey Bruma and Patrick van Aanholt, the midfielders Scott Sinclair and Josh McEachran, and the striker Fabio Borini with him in Germany, where the club are in the throes of a mini-tour in preparation for Sunday's Community Shield against Manchester United and the Premier League kick-off at home to West Bromwich Albion the following Saturday.

All five played in Sunday's 2-1 defeat to Eintracht Frankfurt, with McEachran, the 17-year-old from Oxford, impressing after his introduction for Kalou in the 59th minute.

"Josh is a very good player," Kalou said. "He's come into the first team [in pre-season] and he has great quality. He can impress and develop himself to be an important Chelsea player this year.

"There are some new players coming through and we have to give them a chance to develop. We showed we can win that way last season so I don't think we need to change that policy now."

The Eintracht game was the first opportunity for Chelsea's World Cup players, including the Ivory Coast international Kalou, to get pre-season minutes under their belts.

There was obvious evidence of rustiness, but it is hoped that steps forward will be taken in the friendly against Hamburg on Wednesday evening, when Ancelotti intends to play his team for the Community Shield.

"I'm not worried," Kalou said. "This period of the season is always difficult. Different players recover differently but by Sunday everyone will be ready.

"Everything is possible. Last year, we won the double and went out of the Champions League to the winners, and so it's possible we can win the lot this season. We have the squad and the players to do it."