Blank look on Avram Grant future

Apr 17 2008 By Western Mail

ROMAN ABRAMOVICH is ready to hand Avram Grant a blank cheque so he can turn Chelsea into stylish champions next season.

The billionaire Russian owner is pinning his faith on Grant’s ability to deliver a team that will enable the club to dominate the game both at home and abroad.

The 52-year-old Israeli expects to be in charge of the team next season despite continued speculation over his future.

But while he stopped short of admitting that he has been promised a £100m kitty to spend, he did reveal that cash would be no object as they look to rebuild the squad in the summer.

Grant understandably refused to put names in the frame but is clearly planning to raid Europe and match the spending of their English rivals.

"We know the vision of the club and the money won’t be a problem if we find good players to bring here," Grant said. "So you could say £80m or £100m, but we don’t have the advantage that we had two or three years ago.

"We know that Manchester United will spend a lot of money and Arsenal will buy a few players as well as Liverpool. We will do the same. We want to improve."

Grant was vilified by the fans after the club’s 1-1 draw with Wigan on Monday night effectively banished their title ambitions for another season.

Chelsea are five points adrift of Manchester United at the top of the Premier League and their chances will disappear all together if they fail to beat Everton tonight at Goodison Park.

Yet Grant insists he is not feeling the pressure.

"We feel pressure all the time but it is a good pressure – I don’t want to live without it," he said.

"We are still fighting and will continue fighting even if the chances have been against us from day one."