The France and Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka may have been sent home from South Africa in disgrace, but he was immediately given a boost on his return by Chelsea, who have given him a one-year extension to his present contract.
The 31 year-old is now committed to the club for another two seasons, and was extremely pleased with his new deal.
The problems in the France training camp have been well documented already, and their two disastrous results at the World Cup have only emphasised the tensions between the players and their manager.
William Gallas has boycotted the media as he sulking after not being given the captains armband. The Chelsea winger Florent Malouda was left on the bench in the first game after a training ground bust-up with Domenech, and now Nicola Anelka has been sent home after insulting his coach quite vehemently!
Chelsea’s most improved player this season, Florent Malouda, is certain that Nicolas Anelka and Chelsea will come to an agreement on a new contract in the next few weeks, and his fellow countryman will remain at Stamford Bridge next season.
There have been rumours that Alex Ferguson is watching the developments, but Malouda says there is “no doubt” Anelka will stay.
“I know that he wishes to stay and extend his contract,” Malouda said.
The speculation that Fernando Torres will be leaving Liverpool for Chelsea seems to be gathering pace, and the Mail is reporting that Rafael Benitez is demanding the full £70m sale price so that he can re-invest the whole lot in rebuilding his Liverpool squad, which has underperformed badly this season.
Chelsea moved a step nearer to the Premiership title with a typically hard-fought game against the tough-tackling northeners Bolton.
Chelsea were guilty of missing many chances before a brilliant cross from Drogba found Anelka in the box to give them a well-deserved lead.
The Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti saw his team go a fourth game in a row without winning, but insisted that he will not be looking for reinforcements in the January transfer window.
The Italian watched Didier Drogba add two more goals to his amazing tally this season, with Anelka getting the other one, but he is still certain that Chelsea have the squad to cope for the month that Drogba will be away at the African Nations Cup.
The Chelsea (and ex-Arsenal) defender Ashley Cole has given an interview ahead of todays game against the Gunners, and thinks that Drogba and Anelka are unstoppable when they are in form.
Drogba’s recovery from his broken rib has been Arsenal’s biggest thorn, as Chelsea have never lost to Arsenal when he has been in the team. He has even scored eight times in the ten meetings with Arsenal.
It is being reported today that the new Chelsea chief exec Ron Gourlay is preparing to offer Nicolas Anelka a £40,000 a week pay rise and a new contract which means he will finish his career at Stamford Bridge. This is equal to a 50% raise and will make him one of the top earners on £120,000 a week.
The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was the man that first discovered a young Nicolas Anelka when he bought him for just £500,000 as an 18 year-old rookie, and the Frenchman is pleased that Anelka is truly fulfilling his promise at Chelsea.
“He is in very good form and has been given more and more credit.
The Chelsea and France striker Nicolas Anelka has never appeared at a World Cup Final, despite his illustrious career, and now he is just one game away from his dream, has called on his French team-mates to stay united to finish the job in Paris tonight.
Anelka said: “We need to stay together, be strong and united to get the result because it will still be a very difficult game.
