Chelsea join the race to sign Saha
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Chelsea have reportedly joined the race to sign United target Louis Saha
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LONDON, England -- Chelsea have launched a last-minute bid to snatch Fulham's French striker Louis Saha from under the nose of Manchester United, it was reported on Wednesday.
London's Evening Standard newspaper claimed big-spending Chelsea had tabled their bid after being encouraged by United's failure to agree a price for the player.
Fulham have reportedly rejected an offer of nearly ten million pounds from United and insist that Saha is not for sale.
Saha has scored 15 goals for Fulham this season, but the striker has been unsettled since United's interest became public.
He has made it clear he wants to leave for a bigger club in the hope of boosting his prospects of making France's Euro 2004 squad.
And Chelsea are in the market for a marksman after the news that Argentine Hernan Crespo could be sidelined for another six weeks with arecurrence of calf trouble.
Earlier, Saha had told media that he was about to join English Premier League leaders United.
"I am very happy now that we are about to complete the deal," the 25-year-old Frenchman was quoted as saying in Wednesday's Daily Mail newspaper.
But a Fulham club spokesman denied the report, telling the BBC that talk of an imminent deal was "nonsense."
Saha joined Fulham from Metz for a fee of 2.1 million pounds three years ago
