Blues to start discussions

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Chelsea will try to convince Frank Lampard to commit his future to the club by ensuring he feels loved at Stamford Bridge.

The England midfielder will discuss extending his contract at Stamford Bridge after England's upcoming friendlies against the USA and Trinidad and Tobago.

Lampard, 29, has one year remaining on his present deal and he and Chelsea have reportedly failed to agree an extension for more than a year.

He was linked this week with a move to Italian giants Inter Milan but Blues chairman Bruce Buck is confident the player will opt to stay in west London.

"For Frank, the season ends in about 10 days' time, I guess, after the two England friendlies," Buck told Chelsea TV.

"We will sit down with Frank and Steve Kutner, his agent.

"We've said along, we love Frank Lampard, the fans love Frank Lampard, and he's a great player. We want him to stay at Chelsea Football Club.

"We're hopeful, confident, that we'll reach agreement with Frank and he'll be here for the long-term."

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Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck says the club will sit down with Didier Drogba to see if the striker wants to stay at Stamford Bridge.

Drogba has been tipped to leave the Blues over the summer, with Milan confirming he is on their list of transfer targets.

The Ivory Coast ace was sent off in the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United in midweek, and Buck admits it was a 'silly' red card for the forward to pick up.

But Buck remains hopeful that Drogba will still be in West London next season and is planning to hold talks with the former Marseille man shortly.

''Didier is a superb player generally," Buck told Chelsea TV. "There have been some comments reported to be made by Didier over the last year that maybe he would like to leave Chelsea. On most occasions he has said that he has been misquoted.

"Now that the season is over, we have to sit down with him and see what the story is and what his future is. He is a great player, I hope he stays, but that is a decision the club and Didier will have to make collectively.

"This year he has had some niggling injuries, but we know he can change the course of a game, as he nearly did in Moscow.

"As I have said, he is a superb player, but if you are a world-class player, which he is, you have to avoid the silly red cards, the ones that come about over nothing - and I think Didier will be sorry that he got that red card."

Following Chelsea's failure to win a trophy this season, there have been widespread reports of a mass exodus from Stamford Bridge over the summer.

Buck expects Avram Grant's squad to be trimmed during the off-season, but he is not predicting wholesale changes of the playing staff.

He added: "We decided several months ago that our squad size is a few players too many. It is about 28 now and it should really be 22 plus three goalkeepers.

"So there is going to be some movement just to get the squad down to the size we think is optimum. In terms of other transfers generally, every year we want to tweak the squad a bit, so there will be some changes, but I don't expect there to be massive, wholesale changes."