Chelsea Transfer News: Andre Villas-Boas Explores Options Ahead of EPL Season

The start of the 2011-12 Barclays English Premier League season is less than two months away and Chelsea has yet to make a significant move this offseason, leaving fans at Stamford Bridge wondering and worrying what new manager Andre Villas-Boas has been up to all this time.

The Blues have been following a long list of potential transfer targets through the spring and summer, from long shots like Arsenal midfielder Samir Nasri and Udinese right winger/striker Alexis Sanchez to more attainable options such as Bolton Wanderers defender Gary Cahill and Birmingham City defender Scott Dann, though nothing has come through officially as of yet.

Such certainly doesn't mean that Chelsea is going to go an entire offseason without a move of consequence. After all, this is Chelsea we're talking about here, one of the top four clubs in the EPL, a perennial league contender with four English championships, six Football Association Cups, four League Cups and two UEFA Cup Winners' Cups under the club's historical belt.

Furthermore, it seems unlikely that team owner and Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, under whose watch the Blues have won eight trophies since 2003, will stand for anything less than an improvement after Chelsea finished tied for second place on the 2010-11 EPL table with Manchester City, nine points behind League champion Manchester United, a year after edging United for the crown by one point.

That fallback, and the uneven season from which it resulted, cost Carlo Ancelotti his job and led to the subsequent hiring of the 33-year-old Villas-Boas, who now finds himself in the somewhat unenviable position of having to find new players amidst a highly competitive transfer market for a team that, frankly, still has enough talent to compete for the top of the table in the EPL, even if they stand pat.

Villas-Boas is keen to find some new blood to pair with team captain John Terry on the squad's defense, putting Bolton's Cahill, valued at £17 million, and Birmingham's Dann, who nearly moved to Stoke City for £12 million, toward the top of his wish list. The Blues are also said to be targeting Everton's Jack Rodwell and Anderlecht youngster Romelu Lukaku, though at £18 million, the asking price for Lukaku may be a bit too high for Chelsea at this juncture.

On the offensive front, the Blues were in the mix for Santos youngster Neymar, who has since expressed a desire to remain with his Brazilian team for the upcoming Club World Cup, further dampening the prospects that he will cross the pond just yet. The same goes for Porto's Hulk, whom Chelsea pursued earlier this offseason but who appears poised to remain with the Portuguese champs.

However, the Blues still have some options, including Palermo midfielder Javier Pastore, whom team president Maurizio Zamparini claims has drawn offers as high as €50 million for his services, and Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero, in whom Real Madrid also has a keen interest.

Either way, expect Villas-Boas to make something of a splash on the transfer market before the start of the Premiership, when the new manager's mettle will truly be put to the test in the world's toughest football league.