| Chelsea | | | | Dean Smith (Aldershot - Free), Glen Johnson |
| | | | (Portsmouth - Loan), Anthony Grant (Wycombe |
| Odds: 4/9 | | | | Wanderers - Loan). |
| | | | |
| Last Five Seasons | | | | A season of Premiership dominance was the |
| | | | order of the day last season, with Chelsea |
| 2005/06 - 1 (Premiership), 2004/05 - 1 | | | | winning the league by eight clear points. The |
| (Premiership), 2003/04 - 2 (Premiership), | | | | Blues won 18 of their 19 matches at Stamford |
| 2002/03 - 4 (Premiership), 2001/02 - 6 | | | | Bridge, drew the other and only looked |
| (Premiership). | | | | susceptible to defeat after the title was |
| | | | sewn up. |
| 2005/06 Cup Progress | | | | |
| | | | The Champions League eluded manager Jose |
| FA Community Shield Winners vs Arsenal (n) - | | | | Mourinho for the second season running, with |
| won 2-1. | | | | his side crashing out in the first knockout |
| | | | stage to Barcelona. He has responded by |
| Champions League Last 16 vs Barcelona - lost | | | | signing two high profile players this summer. |
| 3-2 on aggregate. | | | | |
| | | | AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko, coveted |
| FA Cup Semi Final (n) vs Liverpool (a) - lost | | | | by some as the world's best striker, signed |
| 2-1. | | | | for £30 million while Germany captain |
| | | | Michael Ballack arrived on a free transfer |
| Carling Cup Third Round vs Charlton Athletic | | | | from Bayern Munich. |
| (h) - lost 5-4 on penalties with score at 1-1 | | | | |
| after extra time. | | | | Shevchenko scored 127 goals in 208 Serie A |
| | | | appearances for Milan after bursting onto the |
| Top Goal Scorer 2005/06: Frank Lampard | | | | scene with Dinamo Kiev in 1997. Ballack has |
| (midfield) - 20 goals. | | | | proven to be a goal scoring midfielder, |
| | | | scoring 44 goals in 107 league appearances |
| Players In | | | | for Bayern Munich and finding the net 31 |
| | | | times in 68 matches for his country. |
| Andriy Shevchenko (AC Milan - | | | | |
| £30,000,000), Jon Obi Mikel (Lyn Oslo - | | | | A whole host of players have been shipped out |
| £16,000,000), Salomon Kalou (Feyenoord - | | | | of the club as Mourinho chases the grand |
| £3,000,000), Michael Ballack (Bayern | | | | prize of the Champions League. Hernano Crespo |
| Munich - Free). | | | | departed for Inter Milan, long serving Eidur |
| | | | Gudjohnsen left for Barcelona, Damien Duff in |
| Players Out | | | | a shock £5 million move to Newcastle and |
| | | | Asier Del Horno returned to Spain among |
| Eidur Gudjohnsen (Barcelona - £8,000,000), | | | | others. |
| Damien Duff (Newcastle United - | | | | |
| £5,000,000), Asier Del Horno (Valencia - | | | | Verdict |
| £4,800,000), Carlton Cole (West Ham United | | | | |
| - Undisclosed), Hernan Crespo (Inter Milan - | | | | Chelsea have strengthened the squad that |
| Free), Jiri Jarosik (Celtic - Free), Dean | | | | already no other team can match with two |
| Furman (Rangers - Free), Leonard Pidgeley | | | | world class additions. There is no value in |
| (Millwall - Free), Filipe Morais (Millwall - | | | | it, but they will win the league again at |
| Free), Danny Hollands (Bournemouth - Free), | | | | short 4/9 odds. |