Agent: Viduka's spoken to Chelsea

Mark Viduka's agent claims to have spoken to Chelsea about a possible move for the Leeds United striker.

Although Real Mallorca's Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o is believed to be finalising a £6.8million move to Stamford Bridge - as revealed in Standard Sport yesterday - Andrea D'Amico claimed today: "We are in contact with Chelsea"

Viduka has pulled out of Leeds's pre-season trip to Dublin and is desperate for a move from the crisis-hit Elland Road side.

However, he is believed to be unwilling to hand in a transfer request as he would lose a reported £1m loyalty bonus.

Meanwhile, Claudio Ranieri has revealed that Paolo Di Canio played a part in Joe Cole's £6.6m move from West Ham to Chelsea.

The Chelsea manager said the Italian striker, who was refused a new contract at West Ham after being frozen out, recommended Cole as a good signing.

Ranieri said: "Joe Cole is a fantastic player. I first watched him two years ago and before I brought him here, I spoke to Paolo Di Canio, Frank Lampard and John Terry. They all told me Joe is ready for Chelsea."

Ranieri also claimed he had signed "the best midfielder in the world" with the £15m capture of Juan Veron from Manchester United. The arrival of Veron and Cole has taken Chelsea's summer spending since Roman Abramovich's takeover to just short of £60m.

But Ranieri scotched speculation that Inter Milan striker Christian Vieri was about to join - "I think Christian will stay at Inter" - and admitted that Chelsea's spending spree did not guarantee success this season.

He said: "Rome wasn't built in a day. I think Alex Ferguson had seven years to win his first title and for me now it is important to build a team and a group.

"I want to build a spirit for the group because you can have all the best players in the world but if you do not have a group you cannot win. This is my target and then I want to see if we can close the gap between us and United, Arsenal and Liverpool."

Although Veron had his moments at United the Argentine failed to justify the huge amount of money spent on him. Ranieri said: "I did not see Sebastian in all the matches (for Manchester United) but for me he's a top-class player and I'm sure he'll play better with us. I gamble."

Responding to the manager's claims he had signed the best midfielder, Veron said through an interpreter: "It's exaggerating a little, but it's a very big motivation and I'll prove that to the boss."

Cole admitted leaving relegated West Ham was the "hardest decision of his life". He said: "It was very emotional. But even if West Ham hadn't been relegated I wouldn't have stayed. The time was right to move on."