Premier League Transfer News: Beckham to Chelsea?

Premier League / Ralph Ellis / 20 July 2009 / Leave a comment

Is Carlo Ancelotti about to rescue the former-England captain from his LA nightmare or will Harry liven up a quiet summer at the Lane by bringing him in to supply the crosses for Peter Crouch? From the dead certs to the dead in the waters, Ralph Ellis looks at the latest transfer rumours...

David Beckham has got so good at saying the right thing he could have a career in the diplomatic service when he hangs up his football boots. Oh, of course to some extent he already has, what with backing the 2012 campaign and now the one for 2018.

And he's excelled himself again this morning. A few days after that cringe making hug with LA Galaxy captain Landon Donovan, he's insisting that his American club's supporters are still on his side. "The majority of fans have been great," he said. It's only a shame, then, that they seem to have got the wrong banners out of the draw when they chose to demonstrate that backing for their iconic superstar. "Go home, fraud", was one of the kinder offerings to be seen hanging from the stands during a friendly against, of all teams, AC Milan.

Whatever he says, whatever he does, Beckham's decision to move to America was the one moment of his career when he took the wrong path. For a few crucial days he must have doubted himself after Steve McClaren had effectively told him his England career was over. And instead of doing what he'd always done in the face of adversity, fighting to prove himself better than his critics, he gave in and accepted the dosh to give his wife's movie career a bit more chance.

Now he's back battling to stay in the squad for next summer's World Cup, and to do it he knows he has to be playing in proper, top grade European football. The only question is whether that will mean a return to Milan or back to England, and he's been dropping big hints that the Premier League would be his chosen destination.

Okay, you can ignore a lot of the speculation about where he might end up as ill-founded. One report today saying he'll go to Tottenham, for instance, quotes "a close family pal" as saying that Beckham's already started looking for somewhere to live near London. The pal clearly isn't close enough to the family to know they still own Beckingham Palace in Hertfordshire, that's only a few miles from Spurs' training ground.

Chelsea, where Carlo Ancelotti knows all about Beckham from working with him at Milan last season, are a possible destination. And the commercial spin-offs from bringing home the world game's best shirt seller would suit Peter Kenyon's plan to show the club can be self-sufficient. But Tottenham would also be an ideal destination - Harry Redknapp has proved himself the master at getting the best from ageing stars.

Spurs certainly need a capture of Beckham's class to fire imagination. They have had a quiet summer in the market by Redknapp's flambouyant standards and don't really deserve to be [5.4] second favourites behind Manchester City in the market for the Premier League's winner without the big four. Redknapp is also being linked with a late move for Peter Crouch, but it's not clear whether he really has the £12million fee which both Fulham and Sunderland have agreed at his disposal.

Portsmouth need to cash in on their giant striker as their financial problems deepen, and it's getting clear that the controversial takeover by Sulaiman Al Fahim is still weeks from being completed. Glen Johnson has already gone, Crouch will follow, and Aston Villa are hoping to make centre-half Sylvain Distin their next signing. Even if new owners arrive with money, how much time will they have before the window shuts to bring in anybody of quality as replacements. Pompey got only four points from their last six games at the back end of last season, and look brilliant value at [4.9] to be relegated this time.

Meanwhile, Redknapp is always named as the master wheeler and dealer in the transfer market, but he's got competition from just down the road for that title. Arsene Wenger has got £25million out of Manchester City for Emmanuel Adebayor, to maintain his track record of selling players at the top of their value. This is the man who got £13.7million for Patrick Vieira, £20million for Thierry Henry and £22.3million for a young and moody Nicolas Anelka.

Will Arsenal miss Adebayor? He did give them a different option, but they've learned to live without him already. He started barely half their Premier League games last season. Gunners remain odds on at [1.54] to finish in the top four. Who knows? Beckham trained with them last summer and they might even sneak in the back door ahead of Tottenham to bring him home.