Diddy knows what is up. As you should have already heard, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has agreed to freeze the two-window transfer ban on Chelsea, as well as the four-month playing ban on Gael Kakuta. These bans, imposed by Fifa’s Dispute Resolution Chamber, are temporarily lifted until the club’s appeal has been heard and ruled on.

The question now is: Will we buy? Manager Carlo Ancelotti doesn’t seem to think it will be necessary to bolster the squad — sans injuries — despite losing four pieces in January for the Africa Cup of Nations.

“It is good for the club because it is a decision that gives us the possibility to buy new players if necessary,” CA said, “‘but at the moment I think it is not necessary.”

What do you think? I’m keen to agree with Carlo somewhat, mainly because players the caliber of Chelsea are obviously cup-tied for the remainder of the season. However, I wouldn’t be opposed to a pair of suspended deals. Perhaps for Kun and Dzagoev?

Alex takes a more aggressive approach to contract negotiations. It worked.

What is Alex, the 350th Chelsea player to sign a new deal since the summer?

A sight not to be seen for sime time, apparently.

In addition to being banned from signing new players for two transfer periods, Chelsea have now been told by FIFA that it cannot recall any players who are currently on season-long loans. That means Scott Sinclair, on loan at Wigan, will not be returning anytime soon. Michael Mancienne, currently at Wolverhampton, may not be eligible to return either.

“If it’s a season-long loan, it cannot be terminated in order to bring players back,” said a FIFA spokesman.

Come again? So, what you’re telling me is that Chelsea can’t field players it owns? Brilliant that is.

What’s next?

I, for one, am going to miss him. I have always enjoyed Sheva. Sure his time in London was nothing short of a nightmare. For anyone else, it would have been disastrous. Not Sheva.

Never — never once — did this man complain. Never did he express his disgust with either the club, the manager, or the suits. He just did what was asked, a lesson for all professional athletes in this age.

And, lets not forget, he provided us with some fantastic moments. Some truly sterling ones, really.

March 2007. FA Cup quarterfinal replay. White Hart Lane. The Ukranian hitmen struck out of nowhere. It was the sort of glaring, unmatched skill Roman thought he was getting when he tossed 30-odd notes at Berlusconi a handful of months earlier.

Then there was 2008. A league win at home to Manchester United would pull Chelsea level on points. Ballack’s penalty in the 86th minute gave Chelsea hope. Sheva’s goal-line clearance from a Darren Fletcher strike a minute into added time preserved it. It was truly amazing.

We’ll miss you Sheva. We here at the Cheslea Offside wish you the very best as you return home. Good luck, my friend.

Selected quotes from Sheva’s final interview with Chelseafc.com:

“I always tried my best for Chelsea and it is only my decision to leave because I want to play regularly in games. I thank the club and Roman Abramovich very much, and everybody who has worked at the club and the players, I have many good friends here and a very good relationship with them and Carlo Ancelotti.

“I have big respect for (Ancelotti), he is not like a manager but a friend and he understands my decision, it is best for me.

“I feel when I played for Chelsea I received big support from the fans. I will remember for all my life this club and I hope I can come to the stadium and say ‘goodbye’ to the fans, I want to send a message to thank them for their support and to enjoy their football and watching their team, I send my best thoughts for the team and hope that Chelsea wins many titles.”

White Hart Lane

The Best Of…

I’ll be the first to admit I’ve got nothing on the kid. All I know is he’s Serbian. And, at 6-foot-4, he may or may not be able to dunk a basketball. Teabags, son.

Going from what I’ve read, though, this appears a low risk move. At £1 million and change, it’s not as if we’re going to get Shevchenko’d. If he doesn’t pan out, no biggie; if he does, well play Arnesen.

He does appear versatile — can play anywhere across the middle — and has already earned a pair of senior caps for his country. From the videos, and we know how much you can learn from those youtube vids, he looks fairly nimble for a bigger guy.

It’s obviously a punt, but I’ll roll with it. If you’ve got any insight on this brother, drop us a line. If you don’t, drop us a line.

Videos of Auto-Matic in action:

Scott Sinclair
Destination: Wigan Athletic
Loan Length: Season-long
Man. Am I the only one who thinks this guy nis simply ever going to pan out?
Let’s face it, he’s never really performed on loan despite venturing to the lower divisions with more reckless abandon than Leeds. So what’s make you think he’ll cut it at the Premier League level? I’m asking myself the very same question.
Maybe he’ll surprise me us. I hope.

Michael Mancienne
Destination: Wolverhampton
Loan Length: Season-long
This one has been in the cards for a while now. Mancienne, who spent two months at Wolves a year ago, returns now for an extended stay.
The England U21 defender, who may also pop in midfield for Mick McCarthy’s side, needs Premier League experience and he’ll get it. It’ll be interesting to see just how much development we see from the youngsta in a squad that will likely be fighting for its life this term.
At the very least he’ll build character.

Here’s a roundup of those youths — the two youths? — that have been shipped out on loan before the start of the 2009-10 season. Let me know if I missed anyone, people.

Franco Di Santo
Destination: Blackburn
Loan Length: Six months
After a month of speculation, Big Sam finally snapped up young Di Santo on a six-month deal. This could prove excellent for the Argentinian who, despite looking bright on nearly every ocassion he’s taken the field for Chelsea, was never going to see much time at Stamford Bridge in 2009-10.
This is, of course, dependent on Di Santo getting games. Let’s hope he does, because he could prove a valuable piece of not only Blackburn’s puzzle but ours as well.

Ryan Bertrand
Destination: Reading
Loan Length: Season-loan
Bertrand’s spell at Norwich — consisting of a six-month and season-long loan — was hit and miss. He put in several solid displays at left-back, but also struggled at times. Another loan, this time to Reading, will reunite him with former Chelsea youth team manager Shaun Rodgers. This should prove beneficial for both parties. I personally rate Bertrand higher than Arsenal’s Kieron Gibbs so we shall see if he actually pans out — or becomes another Chelsea youth system casualty.

Tom Taiwo
Destination: Carlisle United
Loan Length: Six Months
Taiwo, a midfielder or right back, was part of the controversial deal with Leeds in 2006 that also included Michael Woods. He joined Port Vale on a month’s loan in 2008. Vale promptly sent him back afterward, rejecting the chance to extend the loan. Yikes.

Lee Sawyer
Destination: Southend United
Loan Length: Six Months
After spells at Coventry City and Wycombe, Sawyer is returning to the club he began his loan adventure at, Southend. Sawyer, in the last year of his contract with Chelsea, made 12 appearances — scoring once — during his initial three-month loan back in 2008. The attacking midfielder impressed during his first run at Roots Hall. Let’s hope the second time is more of the same, and then some.

Miroslav Stoch, Slobodan Rajkovic
Destination: FC Twente
Loan Length: Season-Long
Stoch — impressive in his appearances a season ago, however rare they were — has opted to join Steve McClaren’s Dutch revolution. The young Slovakian chose Twente over Wigan, Besiktas and Reading among others. In addition to studying under one of the great footballing minds England has ever produced, Stoch will link up with another Chelsea loanee, defender Rajkovic, whose has already spent a season with Twente.

In Twente’s preseason friendly against Sparta Rotterdam on Aug. 1, both Rajkovic and Stoch started. Stoch clocked 84 minutes, while Rajkovic went the full 90. Stoch was very productive, assisting on the second goal of a 2-0 win and providing quality service. Good to see both holding down places in the starting XI, even better to see Stoch making an instant impact.

Potential Movers
Among those that could still move out are Jack Cork, who apparently is being giving the big eye by Hull City, and Michael Mancienne may yet end up back at Wolverhampton where he impressed for part of last season’s campaign despite playing just 10 matches.

Anyway, the man with one brilliant last name has finally, officially, joined Chelsea. Yuri Zhirkov, aka the Russian Ronaldinho, comes to Stamford Bridge from CSKA Moscow for a fairly hefty £18 million. Zhirkov inked a three-year contract, supposedly with an option for two more years.

“Any footballer would be happy to sign a contract with Chelsea, and at any time,” Zhirkov told Chelseafc.com. “I have been received very well here, and have been shown the base at the Cobham training ground, everything is super.”

So, we can finally put one of those ageless rumors to bed. Funnier still is this little nugget from Zhirkov, as reported by the Guardian.

“Abramovich came to our [CSKA] dressing room to congratulate the team on winning the Russian Cup final in May 2006,” Zhirkov is quoted as saying. ”Then, he suddenly turned to me and said, ‘Yuri, start learning English’.

“I didn’t say anything, just smiled. Unfortunately, I still have not learned the language. Now I know I should have taken his advice more seriously, but back then I didn’t think I would ever need it for my football career.”

I’m sure the apparent Blackburn Rovers supporter — really? — won’t have a problem with the language considering his workrate on and off the pitch.

So. With Zhirkov added to the mix, Chelsea now appear to have perhaps the strongest left side in England, if not the world. Take a look at this for kicks: Florent Malouda, Ashley Cole, Joe Cole and Yuri Zhirkov. That’s peerless, especially if Joey Boy returns to form. Then we can move him to the right; niiiice.

Of course, Zhirkov does not fill a priority — the right side is still lacking in quality and depth. However, squad depth has been a major problem over the past two seasons and our recent signings certainly go a way in solving that riddle.

The addition of a right-sided player and perhaps another forward — both seem likely at this point — and Chelsea will be much stronger than last season. A scary thought to be sure.

Anyway. Let’s welcome Yuri to the club. Sure to be a Chelsea legend in the seasons to come, on the back of kits at the very least.

Among the highlights…

Carlo’s sense of humor: When asked about the future of England’s Brave John Terry, the Italian said he didn’t know if EBJT would be captain next season — then admitted to a bit of tomfoolery. Gotta love it.

He also promptly closed the door on any transfer of Terry to Manchester City, at least from the club’s end. He said, “There is no price on John Terry. Terry will be Chelsea captain forever.” Perhaps he’ll want to speak to JT before making a statement like this?

Ancelotti confimed the signing of Yuri Zhirkov from CSKA Moscow. Finally.

As for his English, was it me or has his grasp of the language regressed since that first exclusive interview with ChelseaTV? Either way, he manaveured through that conference with control and relative ease.

Audio: The conference in its entirety.

Video: Ancelotti on JT.

Former Manchester City striker Daniel Sturridge finally signed off on a four-year contract at Stamford Bridge on Friday. This comes a day after the Blues wrapped up a deal for goalkeeper Ross Turnbull (RAWSE).

“Chelsea Football Club is delighted to confirm that Daniel Sturridge has agreed to join the club on a four-year contract.

He will join the first team squad for pre-season training next week when the players return from their summer break.”

As you know, a fee has yet to be reached and, since the two clubs couldn’t agree on a transfer, a tribunal will decide how much Chelsea will pay for the services of a 19-year-old phenom with vast potential. We’re looking at around five million pounds, per most sources. I think we can all agree this is a great deal for the club.

Let’s all welcome the young gun to London.