Chelsea Offer Nicolas Anelka & Joe Cole One-Year Contract Extensions On Reduced Wages - Report

By Zack Wilson

EPL: Nicolas Anelka, Chelsea v Portsmouth (Getty Images)
Chelsea forwards Nicolas Anelka and Joe Cole look to set to learn about the new, more stringent economic policy at Stamford Bridge very soon, with a report from The Sun claiming that the pair will be offered only one-year extensions to their current contracts by the club hierarchy.

Those one-year extensions, with the option of another year only available if both club and player agree, will also be on substantially reduced wages, according to the report.

The new policy is apparently part of Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich's plan to cut costs at Stamford Bridge, after players such as Juan Veron and Andriy Shevchenko cost tens of millions of pounds in wages whilst on loan at other clubs.

The two Blues stars are said to have been somewhat surprised by the offer.

However, their pointing to the fact that Didier Drogba, John Terry and Frank Lampard, all older than Anelka, 30, and Cole, 28, have all recently inked new long-term deals, each worth more than £6 million a year, cut no ice with the Blues' hierarchy as football adjusts to a new economic climate.

Anelka is currently the fourth highest ranked Chelsea player in the Castrol Rankings, at No.27 overall, while Cole is 18th in the Chelsea team and No.1324 overall.

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Hosted by Stephen Crawford & Adam Scime
2/15/12
And with that, we're going to call it a night, folks.

We've had two tremendous matches today, so lets hope the intensity keeps up in the next clashes!

Until next time, this is LIVE commentator Stephen Crawford signing off.

From everyone here at Goal.com, thanks for joining us!

2/15/12
All this focus on the Arsenal and Milan game should not take away from another cracker earlier tonight between Zenit and Benfica. The Russians came from a goal down to lead 2-1 in the closing minutes before Oscar Cardozo levelled things for Benfica, but it wasn't over there as Roman Shirokov won the game for Zenit in the 88th minute.

Here's the thoughts of Benfica coach Jorge Jesus, who felt his side deserved a point from the game.
2/15/12
Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny bemoaned his side's luck tonight but refused to give up. Here's some of his quotes:

"They were the better team on the night and that's the story of the day.

"We have to keep fighting, pick ourselves up, get the confidence back and challenge in the other competitions and in the second leg of this tie too.

"They punished us on every occasion; they scored some quality goals and they deserved to win."

Full story HERE


2/15/12
Another Milan player who was willing to share his thoughts after the match was Mark van Bommel, who has urged caution ahead of the second leg in London.

“The score made it look like it was an easy game, but it certainly wasn't.

(Strange... it looked pretty easy from where I was sitting, but hey.)

“I do not think it's over yet. I remember a clash between Milan and Deportivo la Coruna when Milan was also ahead by four goals, and in the end Deportivo eliminated Milan.

“I went into the Arsenal dressing room after the match to speak to Robin van Persie. I had agreed with him to swap shirts – my sons are big fans of his and he brought two for them. They will be delighted.


Van Bommel went on to talk about a possible move to PSV in the future, but was quick to point out his terms for the move.

“I've spoken with PSV, but we don't have an agreement yet. The club has to decide what they want.

“If Louis van Gaal turns out to be the new coach, I won't go.”


2/15/12
Next up is the Milan maestro Clarence Seedorf. He only managed 12 minutes on the pitch, but watching from the sidelines he was delighted at how his team mates had dominated the game.

"Tonight everything went in the right direction and we did a very good match. You don't start a match thinking to win 4-0, but at the end i think we deserved it coz we played very well."

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