Michael Ballack certainly wasn’t a favourite of mine during his first season at Chelsea. He’d come on a free transfer but was on a hefty salary and as far as I was concerned, he wasn’t earning it.
I wasn’t the only one with that opinion either because there were plenty who thought he looked more like a cat-walk model than one of the biggest talents in European football as he strutted up and down with little effect evident. Then of course there was the operation he went off and had at the end of the season amid rumours of Mourinho’s displeasure and bingo! – another stick to beat him with.
Still, fair play to him, he came back stronger after that and last season completely turned his game around, winning over most, if not all, who’d previously criticised his apparent lack of effort. So, when he announced during the summer that he plans to retire from the game in 2010 although hopes to spend the remainder of his career at Stamford Bridge, I was very happy to hear it.
Mind you, with his contract fast running down and Chelsea not appearing in any hurry to extend it in the same way they had other contracts in the summer months, I have to admit the odd rumour unnerved me.
Still, Ballack continues to put minds at rest, saying “I’m relaxed about my contract situation. I love Chelsea. As a player you have to have a good feeling about where you are and there is no reason why I should change clubs when I’m feeling this good. I’m not 25 anymore and thinking about all the places I’d like to go. I’m now playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world. We can still improve and I want to help with this. I feel I have a lot to give for years to come. I think I have a lot of experience and am still in good shape. I feel strong I can imagine finishing my career at Chelsea and we want to win something big. Last season we were very close to doing it with the Champions League and these are days where you can make history and that is what I want to do with Chelsea.”
Luiz Felipe Scolari has indicated this is definitely something he’d welcome, saying “He is a player who is very professional and who I like to work with. He has a German style – direct. I like that. In the future we will see what will happen with Chelsea but his age is no problem because he is young and plays very well. If Chelsea can agree a deal it is fantastic for me but we have not had a conversation about this yet.”
And the good news seems to be that an offer to extend Ballack’s contract, allowing him to see out his career at Stamford Bridge is pretty likely, with Peter Kenyon confirming “Michael has played a great part for Chelsea and there is no reason for us not to exercise that option.”
Hang on, did I just suggest I actually believe something Kenyon has said?
Blue is the colour
