Chelsea’s Ancelotti fishing for striker Aguero

LONDON - After losing the battle to sign Kaka, Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti is now eyeing Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero for 45 million pounds.

The 21-year-old Argentina international scored 17 goals in 34 matches last season and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon is understood to have already opened talks with Atletico, with super agent Pini Zahavi acting as an intermediary, the Telegraph reported.

The fee would smash the British record 34 million pounds Manchester City paid for Robinho. However, a sticking point could be Aguero’s wage demands, thought to be a staggering 11 million pounds gross a season or 220,000 pounds a week.

Aguero, who is envisaged as a striking partner with Didier Drogba, stands just 5′ 7″ tall and has been hailed as the new Maradona. He is engaged to the superstar’s daughter Giannina and they have a son Benjamin Aguero Maradona.

Another of Chelsea’s targets, Alexandre Pato has caused consternation among AC Milan supporters by claiming that he will speak to Ancelotti before deciding his future.

Having sold Kaka to Real Madrid, Milan would face angry protests if they also parted with Pato, a 19 year-old Brazilian who is a protg of Ancelotti.

Chelsea were interested then, in 2007, in the striker from Internacional but claim they are not in talks to buy Pato now.

A fee of more than 35 million pounds has been mooted but the Premier League club are adamant that the link is being driven by agents and not by them. However, Pato has further fuelled the speculation by claiming his future will be decided after the forthcoming Confederations Cup, which starts next week and runs until the end of the month.