Is this why Chelsea won’t win the Premier League next season?
West Ham's promotion to the Premier League on Saturday means there'll be six London clubs in the top flight next season, which is bad news for Chelsea given their awful form against the capital's four other London teams last year.
How do you think Chelsea will get on next season? Is it harder for a team in London to win the Premier League because of the nature of local derbies? Let us know by leaving a comment below...
Transfer rumours and paper review with Darren Lewis – Monday, May 21
Here are the morning's headlines from back pages and online...
Chelsea striker Fernando Torres demands crunch talks after suffering "the worst season of his career". (Metro)
West Ham boss Sam Allardyce wants to bring former Hammer Joe Cole back to Upton Park after the club won promotion back to the Premier League. Cole has spent the last season on loan at Lille from Liverpool. (Daily Mail)
The Reds exact revenge and Blackburn go down plus more photos of the week
While Blackburn were relegated to the Championship, West Ham and Blackpool earned their places in the Championship play-off final to compete for the last remaining Premier League place. Liverpool, meanwhile, thrashed Chelsea at Anfield to make up for the crushing Cup final defeat. Click the arrow on the image to scroll through the gallery.
Avram Grant backs ‘brilliant’ Redknapp for England
Former Chelsea, West Ham and Portsmouth manager Avram Grant gives his backing to Harry Redknapp to be the next England manager, saying the FA "will not find better" than the Tottenham boss to fill the vacancy left by Fabio Capello.FA ask West Ham’s Ravel Morrison about Twitter comments
The Football Association write to West Ham's Ravel Morrison over recent comments made on Twitter.Former Red Devils stopper Carroll joins Olympiakos
Former Manchester United goalkeeper Roy Carroll has decided to prolong his career in Eastern Europe by opoting to join Greek giants Olympiakos. The Northern Ireland international joins Olympiakos from fellow Super League outfit OFI, to whom the former have paid a reported €330k transfer fee.
Carroll is best remembered for his stint at Manchester United but has represented plenty of other British clubs- he has been on the books of Hull, Wigan, West Ham, Rangers and Derby County and also spent some time with Odense in Denmark.
Carroll has signed an eighteen month contract with Olympiakos that will keep him at the club till the end of the 2012/13 season.
English clubs eye Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic
Liverpool are in pole position as Fulham and West Ham express an interest in Rangers striker Nikica Jelavic.Shanghai Shenhua confident of landing Anelka in January
Chinese outfit Shanghai Shenhua are said to be quietly confident of landing wantaway Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka next month. The former Paris St Germain, Arsenal, Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City and Fenerbahce striker will be made an £6m offer over the course of three years to leave Europe. Anelka recently had a transfer request accepted by Chelsea and is no longer involved with the first squad at Stamford Bridge.
Many European clubs are keen to give Anelka a shot, none more so prominent than West Ham, whose manager Sam Allarydce is hoping to land him on loan in January to give their promotion chances a boost.
Shanghai are currently managed by former French great Jean Tigana.
Football Transfer Betting: Will Luka Modric at 3/1 sign for Chelsea in the 2012 January Transfer Window...?
Gerrard delighted with Bellamy purchase, backs Meireles sale
Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard has said that he’s delighted with Craig Bellamy’s return to Anfield. Speaking to the Liverpool Echo, the England star, who is currently out due to injury, said that he had never wanted Bellamy to leave in the first place ( Bellamy left Liverpool for West Ham in 2007) and added that the player’s pace, determination and hard working attributes would be an asset to Liverpool’s title challenge this season.
Gerrard also defended the sale of Raul Meireles, saying that the club had been left with no other choice following the Portuguese star’s transfer request. He however mentioned that while it was obvious that Meireles did want more game time, he was a bit surprised with the timing of the whole affair.
Football Transfer Betting: Will Luka Modric at 3/1 sign for Chelsea in the 2012 January Transfer Window...?