Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is hoping to have more involvement in the club following the arrival of new coach Carlo Ancelotti.

An associate of Abramovich admitted to the Daily Star: "Roman likes Ancelotti because he has won the Champions League twice - but he has done nothing in the league for years.

"The big factor in him being chosen is Roman wants to be totally involved in everything.

"He will decide which players are bought and he knows with Ancelotti it will be easy to do this. Many people think at Milan that Silvio Berlusconi was the one deciding who to buy. In fact (vice-president) Adriano Galliani is the main man when it comes to transfers."

Last night a source close to Ancelotti insisted the coach was no pushover.

He said: "It's true at Milan the players were often not his choice but look what happened with Andriy Shevchenko. Berlusconi brought him back from Chelsea but Carlo did not play him.

"Similarly with Ronaldinho no matter what reputation he might have, he was left out if he was not playing well.

"Carlo will not let others walk all over him. When it comes to picking the team he will stand his ground."