With England Under-21 striker Daniel Sturridge back from an impressive loan spell at Bolton Wanderers, Fernando Torres insisting he is ready to justify his £50m price-tag and evergreen Didier Drogba ready to go again, there had been suggestions 32-year-old Anelka would be ready to leave and move to Major League Soccer in the United States
However, the France striker, who broke through as a teenager at Arsenal in 1997/98, insists he still has plenty to offer as Chelsea prepare for Thursday's friendly against a Malaysia XI at the sold-out 84,000 Bukit Jalil National Stadium."I am still here and still very pleased to be with Chelsea. I like a challenge," Anelka said."It is all part of the game and when you play at a club like Chelsea you have to be ready to meet the challenge from wherever it comes.
Anelka welcomes the healthy competition and believes Torres, who took time to settle following his big-money January move from Liverpool, will come good."Every single member of this squad will have to fight to play and I am ready to fight.""The problem last season was that Fernando was a new player and it is difficult when you come from another team and then play in a style you are not used to," he said."Now he is getting used to how we perform he has scored one goal in pre-season already. Fernando looked sharp and I think everything will be okay for him.""I don't think we need to strengthen the squad if we are going to win the Champions League," he said. "We have a good squad already. We are strong everywhere and I do not detect any real weaknesses."Anelka echoed the sentiments of team-mate Frank Lampard, who claimed no matter how much their Barclays Premier League title rivals spend, Chelsea still believe they will be the team to beat.He added: "Our biggest challenge will be the same as it has always been - Manchester United. They won the title and have bought some good players so they will be our biggest challengers, but we will be ready for them I can assure you."
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