Ranieri is chasing £13m Keane

Hutchinson said: "We are currently looking at various playing options. We are monitoring the situation regarding Robbie Keane and have been in touch with Inter Milan about him."

Leeds want Keane as a replacement for Michael Bridges who is out of action for the rest of the season following an ankle operation.

Meanwhile, Hutchinson scoffed at suggestions that Real Madrid had made an enquiry about French World Cup winning defender Frank Leboeuf.

Hutchinson added: "They have not been in touch with us at all. I know the people at Real Madrid from the president down, but they have not contacted us about Frank."

Hutchinson also disclosed that goalkeeping coach Eddie Niedzwiecki has now become the third member of Gianluca Vialli's former backroom staff to leave the club this week following the departures of Ray Wilkins and Graham Rix on Tuesday.

Niedzwiecki decided to go after being given the option of staying on with a re-defined role along with fitness coach Antonio Pintus, or having his contract paid up in full.

But, contrary to reports, it was not a player-revolt led by skipper Dennis Wise which forced Chelsea to offer Niedzwiecki and Pintus the chance to stay, although Chelsea players have been queuing up this week to criticise the club.

Hutchinson said: "There is no truth in the rumour that there was a player revolt to have them reinstated. Eddie and Antonio were given the option of staying on in slightly re-defined roles. Eddie has opted to go while Antonio is still debating and will make his decision in the next 24 hours.

"It is fair to say that Claudio Ranieri works very closely with Dennis who, as club captain, provides a link with the players.

"Claudio told him what was happening and Dennis put up a strong case for the work that Eddie and Antonio had been doing. Claudio said that was fine and that was why he had given them the option of staying on."

Chelsea chairman Ken Bates is likely to come under fire today at the club's Annual General Meeting over the sacking of Vialli and the side's poor form in the Premiership under Ranieri. But, as usual, Bates will be bullish.

In particular, Chelsea are keen to play down suggestions, repeated in some newspapers this morning, that some of Ranieri's ideas are being lost in translation.

It is true that the the multi-lingual squad at Chelsea present a challenge to Ranieri, but he has been taking English lessons and, when I watched training yesterday, he was getting his points across with only the occasional help from Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Gianfranco Zola.

Giorgio Pellizaro, one of the coaches Ranieri has brought in, knew enough English to say "Bravo!, Bravo!" whenever goalkeeper Ed De Goey managed a sprawling save in the mud.

There can be no pretending that Ranieri does have problems, although he is looking for a long-term restructuring rather than a quick and not necessarily lasting fix.

Vialli was sacked because, at the start of this campaign, the familiar failings of last season were still clearly visible. Chelsea looked good against good teams and poor against poor teams. More specifically, they could not seem to perform in unglamorous away fixtures.

Ranieri has not yet been able to cure that failing, but according to Hutchinson, Ranieri intends to change the ethos of the club by bringing in talented young players from home and abroad rather than relying on older, costlier players with less to prove.

Keane fits that agenda, and is clearly not the only target. Hutchinson said: "We are not ruling ourselves out from any big-name signing in the future. Indeed, we are looking at other players.

"But we have to try and find a balance. We can't bring in only world stars, we have to bring in the next generation as well.

"As part of Claudio's brief since he came to the club, he has been looking at all players and identifying areas in which he would like to do something either this season or next summer.

"But it is very difficult to buy players at the moment as many clubs are still involved in European competitions."