Chelsea close to signing Anelka

Chelsea have opened talks with Bolton over the possible transfer of Nicholas Anelka and are hopeful of concluding a deal for the French striker by the end of next week, The Times reported on Tuesday.

The London side are eager to bring in a top-level scorer to cover for the absence of Didier Drogba will play for the Ivory Coast in the African Nations Cup later this month.

According to The Times, the club's wealthy Russian owner Roman Abramovich has told manager Avram Grant that the money will be available to strength the squad and the 28-year-old Anelka.

The paper said that Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon had been in contact with Bolton chairman Phil Gartside and that discussions around a 10 million pounds price tag (13.6 million euros) were continuing as the January transfer window opened.

Manchester United have also been linked with Anelka, but manager Alex Ferfuson is believed to be more interested in acquiring the services of Tottenham's free-scoring Bulgarian forward Dimitar Berbatov.