On Soccer: About the craziest yarn to emerge from the Peter Ridsdale era at Leeds United was the one concerning Seth Johnson, then a Derby player who arrived at Elland Road with his agent one sunny morning to sort out the personal terms of his move.

The pair took a quick moment outside to agree a target. Though hardly the finished article, Johnson was a highly-regarded prospect seen by many as a future England regular and was on around £8,000 a week at Derby at the time. He clearly expected to improve substantially on that and so the £20,000 he and his advisor set the bar at probably didn't seem outlandish.

A couple of hours later the two men left the meeting struggling, we can only presume, to contain their glee. Details of how precisely the talks had gone are sketchy, but Ridsdale had got his man and the midfielder was to be paid not 20 but £38,000 per week.

For his efforts at Chelsea Damien Duff is paid roughly twice that amount each Friday, but at a club where, as long as Roman Abramovich sticks around, money really is no object, the diminutive Irishman continues to look fantastic value.

It was one of the many puzzles of Claudio Ranieri's last season at Stamford Bridge that he was reluctant to start Duff on a consistent basis or to play him in his preferred position. Injury subsequently limited the player's contribution during the latter part of last season, but long before that Duff had found it hard to disguise his frustration over the coach's selection policy.

Jose Mourinho seems upon arrival to have been unconvinced that Duff, who had cost £17 million from Blackburn, was somebody who could play an important part in his plans for the London club. Before the season started there was speculation that he would be offered as part-payment for Steven Gerrard. His initial treatment of the Irishman was cool and his departure from Lansdowne Road after an international game in the autumn without talking to Duff reportedly left the 26-year-old upset.

The rumours of a move have persisted with Duff apparently being reassured again in January that the club was not trying to offload him. By then Duff was a key member of a Chelsea team that was already on course for the Premiership title. Things quietened down over the weeks that followed, but few could now question his contribution to a campaign that could yet be rounded off by Champions League success.

When he was in the process of moving from Blackburn after an injury-disrupted season two years ago, Chelsea are said to have been shown medical reports by Ewood Park officials that suggested he was highly unlikely to manage more than 30 games a season. Since the summer Duff has started 29 league games and featured in another two and played just short of a further 20 times in competitive games, 10 of them in the Champions League.

His contributions in the Barcelona games were crucial and if he has, by his own admission, tired of late, then he is not the only one as Chelsea's fragile defence have shown recently. So famously hard to beat through much of the season, they have kept just two clean sheets in the club's last 13 games. Against Arsenal last week Duff looked well off his best, but despite struggling to cope with Lauren's close attentions, he managed two fine moments in the first half that could have led to goals.

Duff's willingness to contribute to the defensive side of things is sure to have pleased Mourinho, yet he must have been surprised to be shifted to left back at half time in Saturday's win over Fulham as Arjen Robben returned from another long injury lay-off.

The widespread perception of Robben as the team's brightest star on the wing (something underlined by his seven goals from just 18 league appearances and his inclusion on Sunday evening in the PFA's Premiership team of the year), combined with the dramatic improvement of Joe Cole (who has also scored more league goals in considerable less time on the pitch), means Duff's position remains remarkably vulnerable at the end of what has been his best season to date in English football.

When he was last linked with a move to Liverpool, sources close to him suggested that the story coming from Anfield was that the departure of Gerrard would have to be softened with more than just money.

But with Chelsea being linked to a move for Spanish winger Joaquin, amongst others, there is also a logic for the Londoners who would reduce the cost of recruiting Gerrard from perhaps £30 million, plus £120,000 per week, to perhaps half that by allowing Duff to go the other way.

Ironically, it is said that Duff would have preferred a move to Anfield two years ago, but Liverpool simply couldn't match either the fee or the salary offered by Chelsea. Now such a move would look like a serious step backwards for the Irishman.

Given his determination to stay, and Mourinho's probable preoccupation with showing the likes of Glen Johnson, Scott Parker and Geremi the door, it is unlikely to happen.

Having already eclipsed Roy Keane as Ireland's leading player in the Premiership, though, Duff will have to continue defying his sleepy reputation and prove his worth all over again after the summer.