• Brazilian confident he is well-equipped able to handle himself
• Midfielder called ‘Blue Kenyan’ at Cruzeiro for his strength

Chelsea’s most significant signing of the summer, the £18.2m Brazilian Ramires, believes he has the resilience and aggression to flourish in the Premier League with the former Benfica midfielder expected to be involved at some stage against Stoke this afternoon.

The 23-year-old is slender of frame and was nicknamed the “Blue Kenyan” while at Cruzeiro, where his energy and ability to dominate midfield caught the eyes of scouts from the Portuguese club and prompted his £5m move to Lisbon a year ago. Ramires is most likely to be utilised at the base of Chelsea’s midfield, in a role currently held by Mikel John Obi, but he can be employed across the middle with the physical reputation of the Premier League clearly holding few fears.

“I understand what this league is all about,” said Ramires. “I’ve watched it on the television and I know that physical strength is the main part of the English game. But I’m hard, too. I’m tough. I hope I can build up my strength to be on the same level as everyone else, but it’s already hard to put me down. I’ve been away from Brazil for over a year now, playing in Europe. I know the football in Portugal isn’t as physical as it is over here, sure, but it’s still tough.

“I know tackles will be flying in, and it’ll be aggressive, but I can do that too. I know what to expect. It won’t be a surprise for me. I’m looking forward to getting stuck in, too. I like that side to the game and I can stand up for myself. People called me the ‘Blue Kenyan’ [Cruzeiro played in blue] because I put so much hard work on the pitch and never stop running. But I’m a tackler, too. It’s been a characteristic of my style in the past, so I’m relishing that side of the game over here.”

Ramires hails from Barra do Pirai in Rio de Janeiro and his rise to prominence was relatively swift. As a 16-year-old he was combining football training as a youngster at Joinville, a small club in Santa Catarina, with work on a building site to earn extra money for his family.

“I’d work Tuesday and Thursdays from 7am to 4pm, then go to football practice afterwards, and then 7 to 11am on Saturday,” he said. “I was earning between 80 and 100 reals (£30-35) every 15 days. I’m not ashamed of that. That experience made me the man I am today, giving me the character I am now. When I look back at that time, it helps me keep my feet on the ground. Everything I do is about helping my family back home, and that hasn’t changed. All those experiences, working hard as I did, made me what I am today. For now, I just want to make my mark here at Chelsea. The team have been playing wonderful football, and I want to be a part of that.”

Carlo Ancelotti, who will be without Branislav Ivanovic with a back complaint this afternoon, does not anticipate making any more signings before the end of the month and is content with the strength of his squad after 6-0 victories home and away at the start of the new campaign. “For us, the transfer window is closed already,” he said.Copy ends

ChelseaDominic Fifieldguardian.co.uk

Tottenham are alone among the four Premier League clubs in having a Champions League group they can really savour

The leading English clubs would be aghast at any suggestion of adventure in the group phase of the Champions League. With Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal among the top seeds, none of their managers was ever likely to be stifling a gasp of anxiety at the draw.

Tottenham Hotspur, who last savoured the competition 48 years ago in its European Cup incarnation, would have been alone in feeling the pulse quicken though it accelerated further when they were pitted against the holders, Internazionale. The Serie A side also landed a domestic Double.

They were so effective under José Mourinho, before he left for Real Madrid, that there seldom seemed to be a instant when one trophy or another was not being cradled. The sort of acceleration that sweeps Tottenham towards such an encounter is hair-raising but also welcome since nobody can be jaded at the thought of Inter, now managed by Rafael Benítez, coming to White Hart Lane.

Their squad is so remarkable that it is virtually a caricature of excellence. At the draw in Monaco, the club continued to gorge itself on honours, with the prizes for goalkeeper, defender, midfielder and forward of the year going, respectively, to Júlio César, Maicon, Wesley Sneijder and Diego Milito. Benítez has a little less scope to introduce new blood since Mario Balotelli, who did not get off the bench in the 2010 final, has gone to Manchester City.

The greater comfort for Tottenham lies in the fact any club might be compelled to proclaim the excitement of such fixtures while shrugging ruefully in private. When Harry Redknapp does tear his gaze from Inter, he will not be especially pleased to see one of the other adversaries in the group. Werder Bremen eliminated Sampdoria in the qualifiers.

Twente Enschede, however, may have peaked by taking their first Eredivisie title and with Steve McClaren having then moved on to Wolfsburg, the side is now under the command of Michel Preud’homme. It is at least feasible that Tottenham can go through to the last 16 as runners-up in their group.

Once thoughts have been wrenched away from Inter, the mood may be sunnier at White Hart Lane since the remainder of the fixtures are less daunting. An even more marked contentment will have been felt elsewhere, with Manchester United seeing Group C as a routine assignment.

There would be normally be wincing at the prospect of La Liga foes, but Valencia have transferred both David Villa and David Silva. Ferguson might have to endure nothing more exacting than demands that he recall his time at Rangers once more. The people of Manchester could be anxious since few will forget rioting in the city at the time of the Scottish club’s Uefa Cup final there with Zenit St Petersburg in 2008.

Rangers have had severe financial worries since then but they have eased enough for transfer fees to be paid this summer and Walter Smith’s side has been resilient enough to take the last two League titles in Scotland. That success, all the same, will not concern Ferguson and nor should meetings with the Turkish club Bursaspor.

Chelsea’s group has a ring to it since they are pitted against former winners of the tournament in Marseille. The French club seized the Champions League in 1993 but there had been no subsequent trophies of note until the team managed by Didier Deschamps completed a domestic Double last season.

That in itself will give Carlo Ancelotti pause for thought at Stamford Bridge and Spartak Moscow can also present problems. Group G is completed by the Slovak club MSK Zilina. Arsenal, too, will head east, but the trips to take on Shakhtar Donetsk and Partizan Belgrade will be regarded automatically as awkward engagements.

Currently, though, it is Braga who are really to be feared. The Portuguese club’s elimination of Celtic was not particularly surprising but in the next qualifier they did disrupt the natural order. Braga defeated Sevilla 1-0 at home and 4-3 in Spain. There is a capacity, as Celtic also saw, for both obduracy and goal scoring.

For the moment, the glamour of the Champions League is felt only weakly by the British clubs. It exists forcefully elsewhere, in Group C’s combination of Milan, José Mourinho’s Real Madrid and those other former winners, Martin Jol’s Ajax. Auxerre will do well not to be awestruck.

While England is the sole country to have four representatives, it should be borne in mind that no Premier League team made it beyond the quarter- finals last season.

Despite the apparent standing, these are clubs that must prove their worth all over again.

Champions LeagueManchester UnitedTottenham HotspurChelseaArsenalKevin McCarraguardian.co.uk

Ghana’s hard man has had a frustrating, injury-hit two years, but is now raring to go for Chelsea

The look on the face of the Eintracht Frankfurt player was priceless. He had spotted the opportunity to knock an off-balance Michael Essien off the ball in a pre-season fixture two weeks ago and he had slammed his shoulder into him with all of his force. Everyone knows what tends to happen next, yet it rarely fails to elicit a chuckle. The Eintracht player, the would-be hard man, made contact with Essien and bounced back three yards. As his jaw dropped, the Ghanaian rumbled away with possession.

From Roman Abramovich down, there is not a person at Chelsea who is not delighted at Essien’s return. The club have announced the £18.2m capture of the midfielder Ramires from Benfica, a player that the manager, Carlo Ancelotti, describes as “the future for Brazil and hopefully for Chelsea, too”, but he does not feel like the most significant reinforcement in the department.

“Michael is like a new signing,” the midfielder Frank Lampard said. “He has had two years where he has hardly played because of terrible injuries and he has been a huge loss for us. Even though we did the Double last year, you can never underestimate what a player like Michael can do for your team. He is so powerful and he can play in different positions. He is one of the best players around in any position he plays in, really.”

Essien’s summer was to have been spent leading his country at the World Cup finals but the knee injury he suffered in January at the Africa Cup of Nations refused to heal in time. It is tantalising to wonder how Ghana might have fared with their best player in the team. Without him, they reached the quarter-finals, where they lost the tournament’s most dramatic tie to Uruguay on penalties.

Essien watched Ghana’s games on television but he was preoccupied by what he had to do. His needed to be a working summer. The 27-year-old did not take a holiday and he remained at home in Cobham to put in the hard yards, from 10am until 5pm every day, at the training ground.

He played in all five of the club’s pre-season friendlies and when Ancelotti searched for a positive after last Sunday’s Community Shield defeat to Manchester United, he came up with the fact that Essien had completed another 90 minutes. Of the club’s established players, only Mikel John Obi, the Nigeria midfielder, who also missed the World Cup because of injury, has enjoyed a full pre-season and played in all five games. Essien has never felt fitter.

It is tempting to paint Essien as a man on a mission to make up for lost time, one champing at the bit to unleash the frustrations of the past two seasons. In September 2008, he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee on international duty and was ruled out for six months. Last season, after tearing his hamstring against Apoel Nicosia in December, he injured the knee again, although this time the problem was more to do with the meniscus.

Essien, though, has been philosophical and typically laid-back about the lay-off, and he is simply excited about the new campaign. Chelsea swept the board in domestic terms without him last season. Could they do even better with him on board this time? “It’s going to be a big plus having Essien fit and ready to go,” Mikel said. “Hopefully, the Champions League can be the next target.”

It is a reflection of the esteem in which Essien is held at Stamford Bridge that he was given a two-year contract extension on improved terms in June, even though he had three years to run on his old deal and he had not played since December.

While Abramovich allowed Michael Ballack, Joe Cole and Deco to leave, to Bayer Leverkusen, Liverpool and Fluminense respectively, he seems determined to ensure that Essien, who has had offers from rival clubs, remains happy.

Ancelotti was quizzed today on what Ramires may bring to his Chelsea team. “He is more of a European player, he is very dynamic and he can play in all the midfield positions,” he said. “He is a hammer. He doesn’t have a problem to run and to keep a good tempo.”

Chelsea’s midfield options are suddenly looking formidable.

ChelseaDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk