Quaresma swells Chelsea's Portuguese ranks

ortugal winger Ricardo Quaresma has joined Chelsea FC on loan from FC Internazionale Milano until the end of the season.

Portuguese contingent
The 25-year-old teams up again with Blues manager Luiz Felipe Scolari who he played under while the Brazilian was coach of Portugal prior to joining Chelsea in the summer. Quaresma, who has a five-year contract with Inter, becomes the fifth Portuguese international at Stamford Bridge where he links up with Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, José Bosingwa and Deco, the latter pair both arriving earlier this season with Scolari.

Difficult times
Inter paid FC Porto an initial €18.6m for Quaresma in August, with €6m-rated midfielder Pelé going the other way as part of the deal. The right-sided winger, however, has struggled to find his feet under compatriot José Mourinho at San Siro and has started just seven matches in Serie A this term. "I think a spell abroad can be very good for him," Inter president Massimo Moratti said. Quaresma, who started his career at Sporting Clube de Portugal, spent a season with FC Barcelona in 2003/04 before a four-year stint with Porto.

Dacourt to Fulham
In other transfer news Inter have announced that Olivier Dacourt has signed for Fulham FC following three seasons in Milan. Dacourt, who has previously played in England for Everton FC and Leeds United AFC, has featured just once as a substitute in Serie A this season.