Chelsea's forgotten man Pizarro aiming to star with Bremen in UEFA Cup final

20 May 2009 01:53
Claudio Pizarro is one of Chelsea's forgotten men. An unloved striker who still draws £20,000 a week out of Stamford Bridge while enjoying the most successful season of his career on loan at Werder Bremen. The Germans' top scorer can land more glory than his parent-club in the UEFA Cup final here against Shakhtar Donetsk - ahead of the domestic cup final later this month. How to explain the transformation from a player who was restricted to 10 starts and delivered two goals from 31 appearances in his forgettable debut season in  England? 'For me, it is important that a coach shows faith in me and Thomas Schaaf does  exactly that,' said a striker who has already scored 28 goals this season. His future Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti is said to be a fan, but Pizarro admitted this week he had heard nothing from a Stamford Bridge in transition and Galatasaray will use his presence in their city to try to sign him. The Turks would like a similar deal to Bremen, who pay just £35,000 a week to a man in the middle of a four-year contract worth £55,000 a week. But at a push Galatasaray are willing to make up the difference and may even pay a £2million fee. After suffering similar expensive hangers-on such as Andriy Shevchenko,Juan  Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo, Chelsea may well be keen towave goodbye to  a 30-year-old who is never far from controversy. Pizarro, Hugo Almeida and Diego in Istanbul on Tuesday Despite his record, Bremen are reluctant to re-sign him, in part because of a violent conduct ban followed by his late return from international duty and a continuing court case in Peru alleging tax irregularities against his agent Carlos Delgado. Pizarro is Peru's David Beckham without the squeaky clean image. It took until  this year to overturn an 18-month ban from the national team (not his first  exclusion) over lurid allegations involving women, alcohol and a Venezuelan hotel room at the Copa America two years ago. But on this occasion he wants to make the headlines for the right reasons. 'Winning the final would be extremely important for me and my career,' he said.

Source: Daily_Mail