Cole and Ballack to leave Chelsea - 7M sport

Cole and Ballack to leave Chelsea



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Posted Thursday, June 10, 2010 by NOTW.co.uk

Champions won't renew deals

Cole and Ballack to leave Chelsea
COLE: Scoring for England

CHELSEA have confirmed that England star Joe Cole and Michael Ballack will not be renewing their contracts at Stamford Bridge.

Cole, 28, has been linked with most of the leading clubs in the Premier League but is unlikely to make a firm announcement on his next destination until after the World Cup.

Blues boss Carlo Ancelotti had insisted it was "100 percent certain" that the midfielder would be staying in west London.

However, the champions withdrew their offer of a new deal after failing to meet his pay demands.

Ballack misses out on South Africa due to an injury he sustained in the FA Cup Final as he helped Chelsea to an historic Double.

The highly-paid German joined the club from Bayern Munich under the Bosman Ruling in 2006 and is tipped to return to his homeland with Schalke already confirming an interest in his services.

Ancelotti is reshaping his squad despite last term's success as owner Roman Abramovich won't sanction extravagant salary expenditure where he feels it isn't merited.

Chelsea issued a statement saying they thank the duo for their service and wish them both luck for the future.

Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United are all rumoured to be pursuers of Cole, who said at a press conference: "It's been going on a while.

"It's a story to be told another day as I just want to try and do my best for England over the next few weeks.

"I'm just focused on the World Cup at the moment.

"I'll leave that sort of thing to my agent.

"My future will sort itself out."

Defender Juliano Belletti has also been released by the club.



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