Ranieri's transfer deadline

"I am in contact every day with the owner and with chief executive Trevor Birch back in London. We play our first Champions League qualifier on 13 August and to be eligible for that game players must be registered by 7 August."

Ranieri is happy with the acquisitions of wide players Damien Duff, Wayne Bridge, Geremi and Glen Johnson and now wants to bolster the spine of his side. The Italian, today linked with moves for Roma's Emerson and Real Madrid's Claude Makalele, is targeting a central midfielder and striker to support Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Eidur Gudjohnsen.

Chelsea are also believed to be keeping an eye on Robert Pires, who will have crunch contract talks at Arsenal next Thursday, and Juan Sebastian Veron remains in the frame.

Ranieri said: "It is true we must buy a central midfield player. I don't want to say yes or no about Juan Veron. I need a big champion in the middle of the pitch and he fits that description. But so do others.

"So far we have signed four very good players who will make us strong down the left and the right. Now we need to look at the middle and the earlier that is sorted out the quicker I can prepare my team. Everything is focused on 13 August and the Champions League qualifier. That is a very, very important match for the future of this club and we are not ready yet."

Chairman Ken Bates, meanwhile, has attacked the Financial Services Authority after it announced an investigation into the club's ownership before Abramovich's £120m takeover.

The regulator is understood to be focusing on Swan Management Services, a Guernsey-based shareholder, and the fate of its 20 per cent stake in Chelsea Village. Bates, though, is unhappy with the publicity given to yesterday's announcement and threatened the FSA with legal action. He said: "The question of Chelsea's shareholders was first looked into when we went public in 1996 and it was accepted by the Stock Exchange. The FSA then held an inquiry about a year ago and found nothing wrong.

"I am now fed up with this innuendo. I want to know what evidence they are supposed to have received. I challenge the little worms at the FSA in the most robust way to come out of their stone and justify their action."