Tuesday, July 27, 2004
FOX SPORTS | Breaking News | Chelsea buy $51m defender (July 28, 2004)CHELSEA continued their spending spree by signing Portugal defender Ricardo Carvalho from Porto on a three-year contract for around $51 million today.
Carvalho, 26, will link up with his former coach Jose Mourinho at the English Premier League club.
Carvalho played a key role in Porto's Champions League-winning campaign under Mourinho last season and Portugal's run to the Euro 2004 final. He has 10 international caps.
"You could understand why I need another central defender, because the only player in 23 who could not play was exactly the central defender," said Mourinho said after his team beat Celtic in a friendly last weekend.
"Imagine in high level competition this kind of situation. So we have this space to be occupied," he was quoted as saying on Chelsea's website.
Carvalho is Chelsea's seventh major signing by Mourinho, who replaced Claudio Ranieri last month.
He joins Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, Dutch winger Arjen Robben, Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech, Serbia and Montenegro striker Mateja Kezman, Portugal midfielder Tiago Mendes and Portugal defender Paulo Ferreira.
Carvalho's arrival brings Chelsea's spending since the end of last season to around $260m and to more than $520m since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took control of the club a year ago.
Carvalho, 26, will link up with his former coach Jose Mourinho at the English Premier League club.
Carvalho played a key role in Porto's Champions League-winning campaign under Mourinho last season and Portugal's run to the Euro 2004 final. He has 10 international caps.
"You could understand why I need another central defender, because the only player in 23 who could not play was exactly the central defender," said Mourinho said after his team beat Celtic in a friendly last weekend.
"Imagine in high level competition this kind of situation. So we have this space to be occupied," he was quoted as saying on Chelsea's website.
Carvalho is Chelsea's seventh major signing by Mourinho, who replaced Claudio Ranieri last month.
He joins Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, Dutch winger Arjen Robben, Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech, Serbia and Montenegro striker Mateja Kezman, Portugal midfielder Tiago Mendes and Portugal defender Paulo Ferreira.
Carvalho's arrival brings Chelsea's spending since the end of last season to around $260m and to more than $520m since Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich took control of the club a year ago.
