Claudio Wants A Champion

It is no secret that Chelsea need a new central midfielder. At present we have just Manu Petit and Frank Lampard in that position. Lamps is surely going to be a regular next season, so a defensive midfielder could come first- in the form of Roma midfielder Emerson. But Lamps is becoming a box-to-box midfielder which could convince Claudio that we need a creative midfielder- in the form of Man United midfielder Juan Veron.

Speaking in The Sun, Claudio said "I have signed the good young players. Now I want the big champions. I am waiting on other new signings and I would like to have them in place by the time we come back from Malaysia next week."

He added: "It is true we must buy a central midfield player. At the moment I only have Frank Lampard there. We also have Emmanuel Petit but he has been injured and I need one more.

"I don't want to say yes or no about Juan Veron. I need a big champion in the middle of the pitch and he fits that description. But so do others. The big name is not important but the motivation is. And, of course, the big names are also the best players with the strongest drive."

Biggest hint yet that veron could sign, yet reports seem to suggest that Emerson is the more likely player to join...