Chelsea will go into the final and possibly decisive game of the season without Nicolas Anelka. The striker will miss out of the reunion with his former club Bolton because of a ruling concerning his transfer from the Reebok in the January transfer window.
It turns out that Anelka originally signed on loan with Chelsea before the deal was made permanent and an FA ruling, introduced in the Summer, states that a player cannot face his former team after moving on loan and then signing permanently for that club. It’s an identical situation to the one that saw Defoe miss the visit to White Hart Lane earlier in the season. Chelsea officials have apparently appealed against the decision but their case was thrown out on Thursday.
From a fantasy perspective, this guarantees a starting berth for Drogba at Bolton, although with this in mind, it could also mean that Grant could be tempted to start with Anelka at Newcastle on Monday, handing Drogba a rest after the Champions League extra time.