I Wanted Milan's Paolo Maldini At Chelsea - Carlo Ancelotti

The coach has given a 360 degree interview, in which he touched upon his ambitions with Chelsea, his English skills, Milan and the transfer market...

Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti admits he tried to take Paolo Maldini with him to Stamford Bridge, but the Italian declined the offer.

The former Milan tactician has returned to speak about Calcio, as well as the high transfer prices and his struggle with trying to grasp the English language, before and after moving to West London.

Ancelotti is trying to build an empire based on European and Premier League success at Chelsea, and gave his views on progress at Stamford Bridge.

"If there was one player I would have liked to take to Chelsea from Milan, it would be Maldini, even at 41 I would have him," Ancelotti told Italian radio, as reported by Sky Sport Italia.

"I made a proposal to him, but his desire was to stop after many years in the game."

The coach also spoke about his English lessons and of a bet he made with Didier Drogba as to who would learn a language faster.

"I made a bet with Drogba about whether I would learn English faster than he would learn Italian, and I think he will win the bet," added the coach.

"Three Chelsea directors have also been learning Italian, maybe out of desperation," joked Ancelotti, referring to his English skills.

"There was one time when I was with David Beckham. He was on the massage table and I said, 'He who sleeps fails to catch the fish,' and everyone started laughing."

Ancelotti then spoke about the summer transfer market, and in particular, Real Madrid's lavish spending.

"It's a very complicated market because prices are so high. Look at Ronaldo's move to Real for example - that was very high," continued the coach.

"Ronaldinho? I hope he gets back to his best, I really do, for himself and for Milan."

Salvatore Landolina, Goal.com