The speculation comes on the day that Anelka revealed he is still to rid himself of the petulant nature that inspired him to throw such hissy-fits as to announce his retirement from football at the age of 20. In an astonishing outburst the French international blamed anyone but himself for missing the deciding penalty during the Champions League final on Wednesday night.
Apparently his tame shot was the result of having no time to prepare. Anelka revealed that he had refused to take one of the first five penalties because he was angry over having to wait 110 minutes for Avram Grant to bring him on and for having played out of position when his manager eventually did. His decision meant that John Terry was forced to step-up and take the fifth spot kick.
Why Anelka has chosen to make such a fool of himself in public is beyond comprehension but it is clear that despite promises to the contrary, he has yet to shed himself of the attitude problems that have plagued his entire career.
The fee bandied around by the Express is £15m, which is around the money Chelsea paid Bolton for him in January. Since then he has made little impact on the team but with the exit of Drogba and Shevchenko it is likely that he will be the senior striker at the club come next season.
I, for one, would be desperately disappointed if we spent such a big sum of money on a striker, who despite a wealth of ability, has had his best years and is bound to cause a unrest at the club at some stage. Reports in the same paper have linked us with a £10m move for Wright-Phillips and this too would be a poor bit of business. I yet to see any evidence that the diminutive winger is any better than Aaron Lennon.
Over the past couple of weeks fans have been told about a variety of transfer targets, from obscure Bolivian strikers to world class forwards and international goalies. It is likely that 99% of these are completely false but one suspects the constant speculation is setting the tone for the summer.