SOCCER:Bolton Wanderers have rejected Chelsea's opening £11 million (€15m) offer for their unsettled striker Nicolas Anelka, but both clubs privately expect a compromise to be reached which would see the France international secure his long-mooted transfer to Stamford Bridge.

Anelka was omitted from the Bolton squad for last weekend's FA Cup third-round defeat by Sheffield United with Chelsea's admiration for the player on the point of crystallising. The Wanderers chairman, Phil Gartside, albeit as a reluctant seller, is seeking nearer €20 million for a player bought for around €12 million from Fenerbahce in the summer of 2006 and who signed a new four-year contract last August.

That deal saw the previous release clause - also set at €12 million - removed and gave Bolton leeway to raise their asking price.

But Chelsea will still resist paying what they consider to be over the odds for the 28-year-old. The Stamford Bridge hierarchy would be willing to offer €16 million for the forward, who has impressed in scoring 11 times in a struggling team this season, and they hope that will prove acceptable to Wanderers.

Anelka favours a transfer to Chelsea, for whom he could play in the Champions League, but remains in limbo, with sources close to the player insisting he is "just waiting" for the go-ahead to complete the move.

Bolton will be keen to secure a replacement and are one of four Premier League clubs to have tentatively inquired about the availability of former Liverpool striker Djibril Cisse, whose future at Marseille has been cast into doubt. Blackburn, Manchester City and West Ham have also made contact with Cisse's representatives.

Chelsea could do with Anelka sooner rather than later, particularly as Didier Drogba, Michael Essien and Salomon Kalou have departed for the African Cup of Nations.

Avram Grant's significantly weakened team play at home to Everton in the first leg of their English League Cup semi-final this evening with Claudio Pizarro their only available out-and-out striker. Despite those problems, there remains recognition within the squad of the positives to be gleaned from winning a competition that other elite sides have shunned.

"This is an opportunity to kick-start the new regime by getting a trophy on board," said midfielder Joe Cole. "To win a trophy in February gives you momentum. Other clubs overlook that, but this can breathe life into the season.

"What this competition does, when you win it so early in the year, is give you the feeling of being a winner. Look what happened when we won the trophy in our first year under Jose Mourinho. A couple of weeks later we had that cracking game against Barcelona in the Champions League (won 4-2). It just gave us a huge lift at the right time. For the new players we've got here, it could have a similar effect."

The holders' priorities may be to regain the Premier League title and secure a first European Cup, but the new regime senses its first silverware.

Grant would welcome that more than most after recent performances were punctured by disquiet from the stands, with supporters berating his substitutions during recent - if ultimately victorious - league games.

"Winning this competition would be important for the team, the new manager and the new structure of the club," added Cole. "It would be a great way to move forward. This team may still be a work in progress, but this club gets judged on what we win.

"Sure, if we just ended up winning the (League) Cup this season we'd be happy to have claimed that but disappointed that we didn't win the others. But this is a chance to get things going. We had a turbulent time at the start of the season with Jose's departure, but Avram came in and has steadied the ship.

"He's changed it slowly. We're still in touch with the leaders in the Premiership and we're in all the cup competitions and the lads have taken to him. We're improving every day. It's about learning and adapting, but we're winning games while we're in transition."

Drogba, meanwhile, admits he still wants talks over his Stamford Bridge future at the end of the season. The Ivory Coast international first revealed he wanted to end his association with Chelsea following the departure of Mourinho.

But he later regretted making his remarks public and re-affirmed his commitment to the club.

Now Drogba's stance does not appear to have changed and he admits his future is something he intends to discuss after the end of the current campaign.

Drogba told Eurosport: "It comes from me, I said what I am thinking, that I wanted to leave. The problem is that I've said that I've wanted to leave for two or three years now. Mourinho's departure didn't help; on the contrary, it made me want to leave even more."

Drogba has been linked with some of the Continent's biggest clubs, including Real Madrid and AC Milan - clubs also reported to be interested in Mourinho.

But the 30-year-old wants to concentrate on helping both club and country before sorting his own future out.

Drogba added: "I haven't talked about that yet - that's for later on. For the moment, my main objective is the African Nations Cup and then, when I get back to Chelsea, it will be winning everything we still have an interest in. The Champions League is the most important. But if we won the Premier League I wouldn't complain."