Essien could be the signing of the summer

Whoever else arrives in Chelsea's midfield this pre-season, the Blues' shrewdest move may have already taken place The talk has been of the potential glittering arrivals of the Kaka and Robinho, of the craft and invention that can still be gleaned from an ageing Deco, and of the implications should Frank Lampard up sticks and leave. Yet, even in the stifling heat of Guangzhou through the opening exchanges of Chelsea's first pre-season friendly, it appears that this club's shrewdest midfield dealing of the summer might already have taken place. Already, it is hard to envisage this team shorn of Michael Essien. Luiz Felipe Scolari took to the dug-out for the first time as Chelsea's manager here and, while he was less animated than he had been with Brazil and Portugal, he would have struggled to suppress his enthusiasm for the... [read full story]