Franck Ribery snubs Chelsea as France winger targets 'dream move' to Barcelona
Franck Ribery has delivered another blow to Chelsea's hopes of signing him by revealing he dreams of playing alongside Xavi and Lionel Messi at Barcelona.
Bayern Munich hope to tie Ribery to a new contract after supporting him through allegations that he paid a 17-year-old girl for sex, but they will have to cash in this summer if no agreement can be reached.
The scandal has not put off Chelsea in their pursuit, but the 26-year-old admits his still has eyes for La Liga and his wife would prefer a move to Spain.
'At the moment I think Lionel Messi is the world's best player,' said the France international.
'I'd like to play with Xavi. He's a very good player who directs and organises his team, and his passing is superb. He's in incredible form at the moment.
'Of course there are teams you dream of playing for, like Real Madrid or Barcelona.'
When asked what he could achieve with Bayern in the future, Ribery tellingly refused to look beyond the Champions League final against Inter Milan on May 22.
'It's true that Bayern Munich are the biggest club in Germany and that we have the strongest squad.' he said. 'I think we have a team capable of winning the Champions League this year.'
The former Marseille star admits striker Jean-Pierre Papin was his childhood hero, but named Zinedine Zidane as the best player of all time.
And Ribery believes he can emulate Zidane by winning the World Cup this summer, despite a difficult qualifying campaign for Les Bleus.
'I'm expecting us to have a very good World Cup because it's very important for France to perform well,' he said.
'It's imperative for us to get past the group stage and then hopefully we can make the final.
'We have a very good team who are more than capable. There are several other teams who are just as good, though, and at the moment I think England and Spain are both very strong.'