Chelsea have been linked with a January bid for Roma’s central defender Philippe Mexes as a replacement for Ricardo Carvalho.

Marseille have revealed they tried to bring Chelsea star Didier Drogba back to the club before the transfer deadline, even as relations between coach Didier Deschamps and sporting director Jose Anigo were stretched to breaking point.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is keeping tabs on Spain international Jesus Navas, who could be available for a cut-price in January.

Yuri Zhirkov will consider his future in January if he remains a bit-part player at Chelsea. Zenit St Petersburg and Spartak Moscow are both monitoring the Russian.

Carlo Ancelotti has insisted he will not try to control the private lives of his Chelsea players.

I was lucky enough to play with Kenny Sansom and Ashley Cole – two of England’s greatest left backs. But Kenny was nowhere near as consistent as Cole.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti has backed Fabio Capello to turn England into winners and says his Italian compatriot deserves the ‘respect’ of fans.

Portugal need to play more as a team when they face Norway in a Euro 2012 qualifier on Tuesday, defender Ricardo Carvalho said after his team suddenly went soft at the back in last week’s shock home draw with Cyprus.

Defending champion Kim Clijsters today extended her winning streak at the US Open to 18 matches with a straight-sets victory over Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round.

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti says Frank Lampard will be available for selection when the Blues face West Ham.