The sky blue of the Chelsea Football Club is the shimmering new black of English soccer — stylish and expensive. ‘‘We intend to own London first’’, Peter Kenyon, the Blues’ chief executive, said in a telephone interview. ‘‘At the same time, we take a longer view in international business. We want the best players, wherever they come from.’’Kenyon and Chelsea are not kidding. The club was bought last year by the Russian oil tycoon Roman Abramovich, who has since spent nearly $400 million on a clutch of playuers including Didier Drogba (Marseilles/$43 million transfer fee), Arjen Robben (PSV/$22 million), Mateja Kezman (PSV/$9 million), Tiago Mendes (Benfica/$18 million), Petr Cech (Rennes/$13 million) and Ricardo Carvalho (Porto/$36 million).A second-place finish in the Premier League last season behind local rivals Arsenal and ahead of Manchester United did nothing to save the job of the team’s mercurial Italian coach, Claudio Ranieri.So one day after leading Porto to the European Champions League title last May, Jose Mourinho jumped to Chelsea, who play in trendy west London.The pressure is certainly on Mourinho. Abramovich expects results and has accompanied Chelsea on their pre-season tour of North America during the ChampionsWorld Series, which ended for the Blues on Monday night in a match against AS Roma of Italy.Mourinho was not especially thrilled with a three-game tour that began in Seattle, moved to Pittsburgh and then to Philadelphia. ‘‘This is his first season and I think he thought it would have been nice to be able to adapt to things in London’’, said John Terry, an Englishman and a Chelsea veteran/survivor who was recently named the squad’s new captain by Mourinho. ‘‘I’m not saying he doesn’t want to be in America, but for us, we only want to build on last season and win trophies. I think it’s fantastic that we’ve got some of the best players in the world coming to the best league in the world.’’Chelsea have not won a title in the top flight of English soccer since 1955 and were in financial trouble until Abramovich took his fistful of petrodollars to England. “He is genuinely interested in the sport and passionate about Chelsea and I think it’s a positive that there’s money coming into football in England,’’ said Kenyon, who was lured to Chelsea from Manchester United by Abramovich. ‘‘Obviously there is some jealously, but the reality is that spending money does help other clubs. The pressure is on — on the club, on me, on Jose — to win.’’ (The New York Times)
