Michael Essien has had to defend Chelsea of claims by Sir Alex Ferguson that many of his team-mates are over the hill, just a day after signing a new five-year deal.

Four weeks before the season kicks off and Ferguson has fired the first shot, suggesting that Luiz Felipe Scolari's Stamford Bridge side have little scope for improvement because they are an ageing side.

But Essien, 25, believes that the experience of many of their players is one of their strengths and is predicting that Chelsea will win the Barclays Premier League next season.

Essien who is on a prep-season tour of southern China with the rest of the Chelsea squad has thrown down the challenge to United by stating that the title will return to Stamford Bridge next year.

“It's going to be really difficult this year, but for me only Chelsea will be up there in May,” Essien said.

“Chelsea will win the title this year. Last year we were unlucky and hopefully we can win more trophies this year. These things happen in football, so we have to forget about last year. There is a big season ahead of us.

“I think we've got a lot of the best players in the world and the boss is going to help us. We have to work really hard, though, because it's not going to be easy. [Michael] Ballack, [Frank] Lampard and Deco are world-class players. As you can see in training and in matches, they can always change a game. They have their own qualities.

“We've also got this mentality of winning. That'll be good for us. All the players are bad losers, like me. I don't like to lose. It happens, but I always like to win. Everybody wants to win.”

And, Essien, who would be working under a new manager at Chelsea - the third since joining the Blues in 2005 after Mourinho and Grant - believes that Scolari can transform Chelsea into champions.

“Our new boss is really strong,” Essien said. “If you see his CV, it speaks for itself. He's a big man, a very good person and we're all glad to have him here. He'll help a lot. You need to be a big character to manage Chelsea. He has that, so that will help us.

“He's a very tough guy during the games, but he's very friendly off the pitch. He likes to talk to his players all the time. It's good to have him on the pitch in training telling us what to do. He has his own way of managing this team and it's good for the players and the club.”