The internal pressure building up at Chelsea is now starting to manifest itself in many bizarre forms, however this latest pathetic attempt to grab the moral high ground after their recent behaviour would be laughable if not so ridiculous.

William Gallas was earning a third of what John Terry and Frank Lampard earn per week, and having been told he would not have parity with these players would then, in training, have to watch Steve Clarke chasing after the sack of cement that the said two could not trap. That surely is when he knew he had to leave.

He is not the first player to say that he wanted to join Arsenal and learn from Arsene Wenger, Walcott and Diaby said much the same when choosing Arsenal, and why would a player want to stay at a club whose manager has no say in the players he can buy, has a press office that issues statements that talk about “the family” and an owner who seems content to allow his charges to ride roughshod over every FA law and protocol while supporting a style of play that is at best functional and at worse downright primitive.

The fact is Chelsea has huge wealth, but unlike other wealthy clubs the board have not developed this wealth and they have insufficient experience to handle big club matters and certainly cannot relate to their Premier League peers.

On a final point could Chelsea please throw out the “dead body” that William Gallas would have to step over before he would be allowed leave Chelsea for Arsenal. Whether this was originally said by Mourinho or Kenyon I cannot recall, but if it was the latter it would be better for British football.