Drogba and Cole talks on hold

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon has confirmed there are no plans to discuss fresh contracts for Didier Drogba or Joe Cole until the end of the season.

Both players have two years left on their current deals and the club almost had their fingers burned this summer because Frank Lampard waited until he had 12 months left on his deal before signing an extension.

Kenyon said: "Both those contracts and discussions have been put on the shelf. The season is starting and those will be re-visited next year."

Lampard's five-year contract appears to end any possibility of Lampard following former Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho to Inter next summer.

Mourinho had predicted Lampard would join him in Italy in 2009 but the England midfielder has tried to end the speculation.

He said: "All I can say is that he is one of the best managers in the world, he's shown that when he was here and I have no doubts he will be successful in the future wherever he goes. He's a winner. That is his future and this is my future."

© Independent Television News Limited 2008. All rights reserved.

Post to Fark Post to del.icio.us Digg this story Post to reddit Post to Facebook Post to StumbleUpon Seed Newsvine Post to GNN Post to MySpace