Ballack says it's Chelsea!

[Beefy]

Germany captain Michael Ballack has confirmed he will leave Bayern this summer and said he had "no doubt" he would be moving to Chelsea.
The 29-year-old midfielder, who is out of contract in the summer, told German Pay-TV channel Premiere: "The time has come for me to make this move.

"When I came to Bayern in 2002, general manager Uli Hoeness told me 'when you're 29, you can still move abroad'.

"I rejected a very attractive offer from Real Madrid at the time."

Ballack is preparing for his last match for Bayern against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday and will enjoy the title celebrations afterwards, even if the crowd continue to jeer him.

"The whistles are welcome because they prove I have performed well here and have been an important player," he added.

"The contract offer they made me proves that too."

Ballack has said will name the club he intends to join before the World Cup finals, which start on 9 June.

He has reportedly held talks with Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho regarding a move to the Premiership champions.

He has played in Germany for all of his career but is keen on a move abroad.

In April, the Germany captain spoke on the subject of a possible transfer to Chelsea and stated: "There have been serious talks. Nothing has been signed yet but I know what I want.

"I always wanted to play abroad at some stage. This is the last chance for me to do this."

It has been reported that Ballack asked Mourinho for a guaranteed place in the first team but the Chelsea boss has refused, causing the potential transfer to stall.

[Beefy]

Ballack is a top player, having said that who will he replace, Lampard,Cole, Makelele or Essien. I think it'll be Essien who'll lose his place

[Ref]

Ballack is a top player Beefy, but i would rather him stay where he is than arrive at Stamford Bridge. Call me old fashioned but i wish we had something in place to allow only a certain amount of Foreign players per team, as a few years ago.
Good luck to Ballack, but i believe he will be doing it for the Money, local bred players wear their heart on thier sleeves when playing for their home teams.
My Two Cents.

[Beefy]

Chelsea are set to complete the signing of Germany captain Michael Ballack.
The Premiership champions have called a media conference for Monday, when they will announce that Ballack has joined on a free transfer from Bayern Munich.
The 29-year-old had already said he was leaving Bayern but Chelsea had not previously admitted a deal was done.
Jose Mourinho said: "I'm happy and very proud. I'm happy with the conversation I had with him and that's the reason he decided to come here."

Chelsea, who have also been linked with forwards Andriy Shevchenko and Samuel Eto'o, have said they want to sign three new players this summer.

Ballack, who led Bayern to three Bundesliga championships and three German cups in his four years in Munich, was jeered by fans in his final appearance for the club against Borussia Dortmund.

I wasn't trying to mess anyone about

Germany midfielder Michael Ballack

The midfielder scored Bayern's third goal in the 3-3 draw.

After the game he blamed the club's management for manipulating public sentiment against him after he said he wanted to move to Chelsea next season.

"Those things got whipped up a bit in recent weeks after some remarks by the club's management," Ballack told Premiere television.

"The fans are sensitive to what is said. But I always tried hard to do my job and that should be honoured.

"I want a new challenge now. I've got to accept some jeering. It shows I was an important player but it does hurt."

The jeers began at a ceremony before the match when Ballack, Bixente Lizarazu and Jens Jeremies, who are also leaving the club, were given flowers.

The booing continued into the first half until Bayern commercial manager Uli Honess went out in front of the crowd to appeal to the fans to stop jeering.

"I wasn't trying to mess anyone about," Ballack added.

"I was not able to make a decision sooner and couldn't force a decision just because Bayern managers demanded one.

"There are a lot of others at Bayern who don't know whether they have a future at Bayern Munich or not.

"I've had a great time here and felt good with a great team that won a lot of titles."