Chelsea make massive bid for Benni

Benni McCarthy is a wanted man with a price on his head. And it's certain that price will rise over the next few weeks.

On Saturday Chelsea made a bid of around ?8-million for the Bafana striker, but the immediate response from McCarthy's club, Blackburn Rovers, was: "Benni's not for sale".

Of course, Rovers would be tempted with a higher offer, but it seems manager Mark Hughes has a lot more zeros in mind.

"If (Dimitar) Berbatov is worth ?30-million, how much is my Benni worth?" asked Hughes of the Tottenham striker after McCarthy scored in Rovers' 1-1 draw in London on Thursday.

It was McCarthy's 17th league goal of the season which put him joint second in the Golden Boot chase with Manchester United's Cristiano Ronaldo and two behind Chelsea's Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba.

Both Ronaldo and Drogba will be playing Champions League football with their clubs next season and that, more than anything else, is what McCarthy seeks.

"I'm desperate to play in the Champions League, it's not about money or anything else and I don't mind which club it's with," said the South African on Saturday.

"I don't have any problems with Rovers, they gave me the chance to play in the Premiership - it's the opportunity to play in Europe that drives me."

McCarthy tasted Champions League glory three years ago at Porto with Jose Mourinho as coach and it seems the Chelsea manager has kept an eye on his former striker.

Last week Mourinho set up a meeting between the player's manager Rob Moore and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon. The two met in London and it was here an offer "in the region of ?8-million" was made.

At £2,5-million just 10 months ago, Hughes now realises he got the bargain of the year and the shrewd manager is not about to let McCarthy go at another bargain price, especially if Chelsea, with billionaire backer Roman Abramovich, are in the hunt.

Besides the goals, McCarthy's ability to settle so well in England is another plus.

Chelsea know only too well of the problems some footballers have of adapting to the Premiership and the English way of life.

At about the same time McCarthy was moving from the temperate climate of Portugal to the normally grey north-west of England, Chelsea signed Andriy Shevchenko for ?31-million. The Ukraine footballer has repaid Chelsea with a handful of goals while failing miserably to settle in England.

The only obstacle in the way of McCarthy joining Chelsea is Rovers' refusing to sell their "crown jewel" striker or if Mourinho's three-year reign at the London club comes to an end during the off season.

On Sunday, McCarthy will lead the Rovers attack against Reading needing a hat-trick to overtake Drogba. It won't be the first time he's done it. Four years ago McCarthy scored three for Porto in the final game of the season to end top scorer.

On Saturday Hughes was backing "his Benni".

"I've got my money on Benni getting the hat-trick and the Golden Boot."