Out of Luc: Chelsea have £32m bid for Brazil winger Lucas Moura rejected

Boy from Brazil: Lucas Moura is the latest hotshot to be linked with Chelsea

Chelsea have had a £32.3million bid for Sao Paulo winger Lucas Moura turned down, according to the Brazilian club's president.

The Blues won the Champions League last Saturday to complete a double for interim boss Roberto Di Matteo who also led the team to FA Cup glory.

But when owner Roman Abramovich demands the club challenge for the Premier League title each and every season, their final position of sixth was clearly not good enough - especially given they were a massive 25 points off winners Manchester City and five points off Tottenham in fourth.

But plans are already afoot to make sure Chelsea mount a serious challenge for the title next season - starting with the move for Moura.

The highly-rated 19-year-old is already a full Brazilian international having played 11 times for the Selecao already.

Planning ahead: Roman Abramovich doesn't yet know who his manager will be next season, but he is already looking for new players

Inter Milan and Real Madrid have been tracking the player but it seems Chelsea have now made the first move.

Club president Juvenal Juvencio says he has already rejected the offer, but says: "At the moment, Chelsea are the closest team to Lucas.

"Inter made an offer of £20.2m, but this was not considered sufficient by us.

"Real Madrid is one of these [interested clubs] - there have been contacts with the president Florentino Perez, who admires the player.

"Lucas is a big player who will triumph in Europe, but Sao Paulo will only sell him for an enormous offer."

Drogba berunding dengan Shenhua

Kelab Shanghai Shenhua akan meneruskan rundingan dengan Didier Drogba seperti yang dirancang. - AFP

SHANGHAI - Kelab Shanghai Shenhua akan meneruskan perundingan dengan Didier Drogba seperti yang dirancang dan ia menghangatkan lagi spekulasi penyerang itu bakal berpindah ke China selepas mengumumkan meninggalkan Chelsea.

Shenhua yang dimiliki hartawan permainan video, Zhu Jun telah pun mengikat bekas rakan sepasukan Drogba dalam skuad Chelsea, Nicolas Anelka pada Disember tahun lalu.

Kelab itu telah memulakan perundingan dengan bintang antarabangsa Ivory Coast terbabit sejak Januari lepas.

"Sehingga sekarang, perbincangan dengan Drogba masih diteruskan seperti yang dirancang," kata Zhu kepada Oriental Sports Daily.

Drogba, 34, mendedahkan, dia meninggalkan gergasi Liga Perdana Inggeris, Chelsea kelmarin, sehari selepas pasukannya melakar kemenangan dalam perlawanan akhir Liga Juara-Juara menentang Bayern Munich.

Drogba menjaringkan gol penyamaan dan juga penentuan sepakan penalti yang meletakkan kelabnya sebagai juara.

Sejak menyertai Chelsea dari Marseille pada 2004, pemain itu meledakkan 157 gol dalam 341 penampilan, membantu kelabnya memenangi 10 trofi.

"Ia satu keputusan yang sukar untuk saya lakukan dan saya amat bangga dengan pencapaian kami, tetapi sudah tiba masanya saya mencari cabaran baru," katanya dipetik dalam laman web Chelsea.

Drogba menjadi bintang terbaru yang bakal ditandatangani kelab China yang berbelanja besar itu dalam Liga Super, selepas jurulatih pemenang Piala Dunia, Marcello Lippi menyertai Guangzhou Evergrande, minggu lepas.

Namun, perpindahan Anelka diiringi dengan masalah. Minggu lalu, pemain tersebut mengancam untuk meninggalkan Shenhua selepas kelab itu merancang untuk mengambil ketua jurulatih baru, menurut media tempatan.

"Jika tiada seorang pun yang menyokong saya dan mereka terus bermain muslihat di belakang saya, saya bersedia memutuskan sama ada untuk bersara atau tidak," kata pemain Perancis itu kepada Xinmin Evening News.

Pemilik kelab, Zhu telah pun menulis kepada ejen dan peguam Anelka bagi mendapatkan penjelasan, lapor Oriental Sports Daily. - AFP

Meet the couple who live with a pair of pet buffalo

Sofa so good ... RC and Sherron say their pets are perfectly safe

HERD the one about the couple who live with a pair of BUFFALO?

RC Bridges, who is nicknamed The Buffalo Whisperer, and his wife Sherron share their home with Wildthing and his new pal Bullet.

The beasts, who weigh 2,400lb and 900lb respectively, relax in the living room and around the house and even take a ride in the family car.

Buffaloes can be very dangerous animals, with curved sharp horns which grow up to two feet long, and they are able to run as fast as 40mph.

But RC says: “I knew they were crazy animals but it actually turned out way better than I thought it would be.

Someone you nose? ... pet sniffs buffalo head mounted on wall

“I always dreamed of training a buffalo, but I never thought about training two.

“They’re like my buddies. Bullet likes to be with me at all times, she’ll even give up food to be close to me.”

RC, who is a cowboy and horse trainer, has worked with buffaloes most of his life.

After losing an eye in 2004 he had to sell his herd, except for one young male who he decided to keep as a pet.

Cattle drive ... buffalo stands on RC's truck

Wildthing, who is now seven, even acted as best man when his owners renewed their wedding vows in 2006, after five years of marriage.

RC, 63, said: “He carried the rings on his horns and threw them off one at a time for us to catch.”

Bullet, a female who is three-and-a-half, joined the family after her previous owner found her too hard to control.

RC said: “Her owner told me if I could catch her, I could have her. She kept getting out of the pen and the sheriff’s department was mad about it.

Under one hoof ... Wildthing and Bullet in the Bridges' living room

“Well, I just caught her, put her in a trailer and brought her home.”

RC's photographer wife Sherron, 39, who is part Native American, makes traditional-style clothes and headdresses using the animals’ hair.

She said: “We love our buffaloes. I think if either one of them died, RC would probably go along with them."

And RC insists his friends and relatives still visit the families home in Texas, where they also keep a pet wolf called Jewell Spirit.

He said: “They’re not afraid to come over because I keep everything safe. But most of them think I’m going to get hurt or killed.

Big pals ... RC hugs one of his pets

“I don’t think you can ever take all of the wildness out of the buffaloes, though. I’ve been hurt a lot, so I guess its just part of the game.”

Nevertheless, the couple’s two grown-up children, son Will and daughter Taylor, are proud of the family pets and have even broken world records with them.

RC said: “My son was the first person to ever ski behind a buffalo, on water skies and on sand.

“And my daughter was the first person to ever snow sled behind a buffalo.”