Alex and Anelka seek Stamford escape

Today’s win against Newcastle United was massive for Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas.

You could see that in the way he celebrated every goal like he’d won the lottery.

Not that he’d need to have won the lottery though; he’s probably got enough money anyway.

But nevertheless, his celebration was at least 9/10 for exuberance.

However, when the 3-0 victory against the Magpies had been secured earlier at St James’ Park, Villas-Boas put his wild touchline partying aside to focus on post-match press conference matters.

In that talk to the press, the former Porto boss wasn’t smiling when he revealed that both Alex and Nicolas Anelka had handed in transfer requests.

It was common knowledge that Anelka could well have been on his way in January, with reports stating that both Tottenham and AC Milan are interested.

But the Blues’ decision to accept the wishes of both individuals comes as a bit of a shock to some, with Alex arguably better suited to the Premier League than fellow defender David Luiz at the moment.

The duo will not be training with the first team anymore and will surely leave next month, robbing the squad of two experienced pros at the highest level.

That could put pressure on young-guns Luiz, Oriol Romeu, Daniel Sturridge and Romelu Lukaku to perform, and could perhaps leave Villas-Boas with the task of replacing them in the transfer window.

And if his failure to do so leads to another poor run, he won’t be celebrating in such an animated fashion then, that’s for sure.

James Shipp