Ancelotti ends chase for big summer star

Ancelotti was keen to bring Andrea Pirlo to Stamford Bridge but those hopes were ended on Wednesday when AC Milan said they would not be selling the midfielder.

The boss has also been frustrated in his attempts to bring in Franck Ribery and David Villa, with his only deals being for Yuri Zhirkov (£18.6million), Daniel Sturridge (tribunal) and Ross Turnbull (free).

Despite that, Ancelotti insisted today his squad are still strong enough to win the title.

When asked if the club were going to make any more acquisitions, he said: "No. We stay well with these players. I don't want to take other players. I think the squad is very competitive and we don't need anyone else."

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson claimed that the title race this season will be a two-horse race between his side and Chelsea but Ancelotti added: "There are other teams that can win. There is Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Chelsea.

"We also want to see Manchester City. To win in England is not easy. In the Championship there is a lot of competitors."

Chelsea will get the chance to land an early psychological blow on United when they play them in the Community Shield on Sunday. Ancelotti said: "This is not a friendly, it is very important for us.

"We are playing against a great team who were in the final of the Champions League last season.

"We have respect for this team. We want to win, play well and put our quality on the pitch. We've had a very good pre-season and are ready to start the season."

Zhirkov is facing a race against time to be fit having not trained the last few days due to a knock, while Joe Cole and Paulo Ferreira are out with knee injuries.

The match should see Chelsea start up front with Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka - a pairing Petr Cech believes will be impossible to stop this season.

Unlike his predecessors, Ancelotti will play them together on a consistent basis and has even changed the team's formation to make the most of his forwards' talents.

Anelka was the Premier League's top scorer last season with 19 goals, while Drogba has netted 94 times in 171 starts for the club.

Cech believes their partnership will make the difference in their attempts to beat United to the title as well as their bid to win the Champions League.

The goalkeeper said: "We have a front two that will worry everyone in the Premier League and in Europe.

"One is the former best scorer in the League and the other is last season's top scorer and if you count the goals together, it is a great striking force.

"The season is long and we will need everyone to score goals but if they score in every game it will be great for us.

"It is a perfect combination. You can see that they play and cooperate well together. One has the pace and the intelligence, the other has everything to help him get the ball."

United have problems in defence with Nemanja Vidic today ruled out of the first two weeks of the season due to a calf injury.

Wes Brown is also sidelined with a thigh problem but is expected back for the opening League match at home to Birmingham while Gary Neville is out with a groin strain.

With goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar out for up to 10 weeks with broken fingers, Ferguson has to choose between Ben Foster and Tomasz Kuszczak against Chelsea.

Both played a half against Valencia in midweek and Ferguson said: "We have a selection dilemma as to who plays in on Sunday. It is not an easy one."