 | Beattie has lost his Southampton room-mate |
James Beattie admits that his close friend Wayne Bridge has landed himself "the perfect move" by going to Chelsea. But the Southampton striker said the loss of the England international defender was a blow to his side.
"I'm ecstatic for him because he is one of my best mates," admitted Beattie.
"I'm also sad because we room together on away games, so I'm going to have find another one!
"But his going is a massive loss for Southampton.
"I believe, like many others, that Bridgey is the best left-back in the country and I believe his chances of cementing a place in the England side have taken a massive boost.
"He's ambitious and wants to do the best he can, and to join Chelsea - which is probably the closest London club to Southampton and his family - is the perfect move for him.
|  Chelsea will have a hell of a left side with Bridgey at full back and Damien Duff if he signs |
"For Southampton, losing players like Bridgey is not good, but I'm sure we can still build on last season."
Beattie said the revolution at Chelsea, backed by the millions of new owner Roman Abramovich, was an intriguing development - although he stressed that the money would not guarantee success.
"If you're a Chelsea fan at the minute then you're going to be very happy," said Beattie.
"If you're talking about signing players like Thierry Henry, Christian Vieri and people like that, it must be good.
"They're going to have a hell of a left side with Bridgey at full back and Damien Duff on the left wing if he signs - I think we've started preparing for that game already!
"But he's a lot of money to spend and he's spending it, although it still remains to be seen whether it will work out."
Bridge's move is likely to help his bid to claim the left-back slot ahead of Ashley Cole, and Beattie said he hoped to boost his own England hopes during the coming season.
"I just can't wait for the season to start," he said.
"Last season was good, although I'd like to think I can do better, but then you are always striving to do better no matter what you do.
"But I've got to have an eye on 2004. That's one of the goals for next year, to get myself in the squad for the European Championships."
MMIX
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