Chelsea Finally Announce Ancelotti

Long time coming?

Yesterday AC Milan announced the departure of long-serving coach Carlo Ancelotti. As expected, Chelsea today responded to Italian reports by releasing a statement of their own confirming Ancelotti’s arrival at the Stamford Bridge club. While the particulars have yet to be divulged, Footy Factor understands that Ray Wilkins will retain his role as assistant manager with the Blues but that Ancelotti would like to bring in Mauro Tassotti and Filippo Galli, two trusted confidants from his Milan days.

Will Ancelotti finally bring the European Cup to the Bridge?

What is most interesting about the arrival of the Italian is how the story has unraveled in the media. Rumors of Chelsea’s interest in Ancelotti first emerged last summer, prior to the arrival of Luis Felipe Scolari. The Brazilian’s appointment temporarily put an end to the whispers but talk resurfaced after Chelsea confirmed Guus Hiddink’s selection, in place of Scolari, was only temporary.

Today’s Chelsea statement on their official website, including an interview with Carlo Ancelotti, sheds new light on activities behind the scenes at the Bridge. The most striking detail to emerge from the interview on Chelsea TV is Ancelotti’s impressive grasp of the English language. Often a critical stumbling block to success of foreign managers, Ancelotti’s interview will lay to rest any lingering doubts about the Italian’s ability to convey his feelings, thoughts and instructions to players and staff. The question that begs to be answered is, when and how did Ancelotti learn to speak English? You certainly don’t learn a language over night and his confident and articulate communication skills appear to have been fine-tuned over a number of months. The second item of significance is Ancelotti’s three year contract. While details of the deal have not been released, it is important to note that this is a longer contract than that offered to either Avram Grant or Luis Felipe Scolari both of whom spent weeks and months negotiating terms. These two factors coupled with the speed at which Chelsea today released their Italian rebuttal all adds up to an agreement with Ancelotti and Milan being in place long prior to the weekend.

While Ancelotti enjoyed huge success during his 8 seasons at the Milan helm, he will soon discover that the Stamford Bridge hot-seat is a completely different kettle of fish. Thought to be the favored choice of fickle owner Roman Abramovich, Ancelotti’s mission statement is simple – bring the Champions League and Premier League titles to West London.