Avram Grant On Kaka, Childish Chelsea and Anelka

In Jose Mourinho’s last season at Chelsea, he saw his team knocked out of the Champions League on penalties by Liverpool and finishing some way behind Manchester United in the Premiership.

Avram Grant was his unpopular replacement, yet he took the title race down to the final day, beat Liverpool in the semi-finals of the Champions League, before losing the final to Manchester United on penalties.

He has today spoken out about his time at Chelsea, reflecting particularly on his chance to sign Kaka, the immature nature of the Chelsea team, and his reluctance to sign Nicolas Anelka.

“I wanted to sign Frank Ribery and really wanted Kaka because I thought Chelsea should play a bit different,” said Grant. “He is the best player in the world. I had negotiations with him but it fell through.”

Grant was not impressed with the mentality of the Chelsea side, although praised their ability to play well.

“The level of performance at Chelsea is very high, the players perform at a high level and so are their salaries - but some of the players there have problems that you can’t find at a children’s team,” he added.

Nicolas Anelka is enjoying a run of good form at the moment, but Grant admitted he hadn’t been interested in signing the French striker.

“I didn’t really need Anelka last season and I told him so,” Grant said. “He is a very good player but needs to have more passion.”

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