Three of the new arrivals at Stamford Bridge - Frenchman Claude Makelele, Argentine Hernan Crespo and Romanian Adrian Mutu - do not yet speak English.

That means Ranieri has to give team talks in Italian and Spanish, as well as English.

Ranieri himself could not speak English when he arrived at the club and the Italian admitted it caused problems.

"When I arrived at Chelsea it was a mess. It was amazing because we were all speaking different languages and the frustration was very high," said Renieri.

"First, I would speak to Marcel Desailly in Italian and he would speak to the French guys. Then I would speak to Gus Poyet in Spanish and then to others in English.

"Now it is more or less the same situation with all the new players arriving in the summer from all over Europe.

"So, before the game, I first speak to the players in English and then say to them 'I'm sorry, now I must talk in Italian and then in Spanish'.

"I try to link everyone together, but it is not easy. Mutu comes from Romania and Crespo from Argentina, but they can speak to each other in Italian.

"Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is Dutch but can talk to Crespo in Spanish but not to Mutu, while Claude Makelele doesn't speak any English yet."

On top of that, neither Juan Sebastian Veron nor William Gallas speak fluent English despite spending more than two years in the Premiership and there are a staggering 16 different nationalities in Chelsea's first-team squad.

Yet Ranieri, who still uses an interpreter to help him during Press conferences, admits he deliberately tries to confuse the opposition with his amazing gift of the gab.

He added: "When I'm on the bench I try to speak another language to my players so the other manager can't understand my orders.

Ranieri's team talks might also be confusing players who never know if they will be playing or not. The Italian likes to call himself the 'Tinkerman' for his habit of changing the starting line-up every match.

He said: "As a manager, I am very happy to have so many selections. But as a man it is not easy for me because I am like their father and it is never nice to choose between your sons."