DON'T BELIEVE THE HYPE!

Article published in today's Mirror Football section.

Do not believe the hype about any kind of clear out at Chelsea now AVB has taken over. According to the Mirror, the likes of Frank Lampard, Didier Drogba, Florent Malouda, Michael Essien,Nicolas Anelka, Salomon Kalou and John Obi Mikel's futures at Chelsea are all under threat!.

The article states the following:

Frank Lampard (£5m)
Stalwart and dressing room linchpin but now 33 and cannot be confident of remaining an automatic starter. Needs to come back firing after last season's injury problems.

Didier Drogba (£10m)
Wants to stay but will look vulnerable if Villas-Boas brings Falcao with him from Porto, especially after Roman Abramovich spent £50million on Fernando Torres.

Nicolas Anelka (£5m)
Goals dried up last season with none in his last 11 appearances and at 32 he looks increasingly vulnerable. Problem in shifting him will be his salary demands.

Florent Malouda (£10m)
Claims that he has been told he is wanted but upper echelons at the Bridge felt he let them down big-time last term after a great start. Went missing at Old Trafford in Champions League defeat as well.

Michael Essien (£10m)
One of the pillars of Mourinho's side but never close to his best last term and appears more expendable than at any time since arrival from Lyons. Coveted by others but powers may be on the wane.

Salomon Kalou (£15m)
Never popular with the Stamford Bridge fans despite decent goal return rate and likely to drop further down the pecking order in the new regime.

John Obi Mikel (£15m)
Struggled to justify the £16m in "hush money" Chelsea paid Manchester United to secure his services. Hard to see him getting a game if Villas-Boas can sign Joao Moutinho.

Now the reason I am saying to ignore all the hype is purely and simply because of what AVB has said himself when he was interviewed yesterday. He stated the following:

There will be no big radical impact or big radical rupture.

I can see 2 or 3 coming into the club with the same number leaving. I simply cannot see Frank Lampard leaving the club. It's ridiculous to even consider. We have to remember Frank Lampard missed nearly half a season last season and with a good rest and pre season will be right back where he was (in my opinion).

Didier Drogba is the subject of speculation at the moment too but looking back at the way AVB utilised HULK at Porto, would we not see Drogba used in the same role.

Another player I cannot see leaving this season would be Michael Essien. We could see Essien deployed as the holding midfielder this season with Mikel making way as I think Ramires has shown everyone how good he can be in our first season.

I personally think that the players under threat would be Anelka, Malouda, Mikel and Kalou but that's just my opinion. Chelsea simply cannot make the same mistakes we made last summer and need to ensure we have cover in every position. If the likes of Moutinho, Falcao and Neymar come in then it's these players who will make way.

I have stated what AVB HAS TO DO before the season starts this morning so make sure you check it out.

Anyway, like I say, do not believe any hype of a mass clear out at Chelsea. The manager has said it himself.

KTBFFH

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