Michael Ballack will be rewarded with a new three-year contract by Chelsea in recognition of his outstanding contribution to their remarkable season. The club will ask Ballack to commit to ending his career at Stamford Bridge by offering him an extra two years on his present deal, an offer he is likely to accept despite interest from Real Madrid and Bayern Munich.

The Germany captain has a year remaining on the £121,000-a-week deal he signed after leaving Bayern on a free transfer, which includes an option to extend for another year, and talks are planned with his representatives at the end of the season.

The 31-year-old considered leaving Chelsea last summer as his relationship with José Mourinho, the manager at the time, reached its nadir in the row over his ankle injury, but he has flourished since returning to fitness under the more relaxed Avram Grant. The Israeli first-team coach has made it clear that he intends to build his reshaped team around Ballack if he is in charge next season and is considering a move to a 4-4-2 formation to get the most out of his goalscoring abilities.

After scoring seven goals in his first year at the club, Ballack has been more prolific in a truncated second season, scoring nine times since returning to the side just before Christmas. Even more important has been the timing of Ballack's contributions, scoring the opening goal in the Champions League quarter-final win over Fenerbahçe and Monday's 2-0 victory over Newcastle United that kept the title race alive, as well as the double that helped to defeat Manchester United 11 days ago.

Chelsea's attitude to Ballack contrasts with their approach to Didier Drogba, who will not receive a new contract offer at the end of the season. The Ivory Coast striker has three years left on a £100,000-a-week deal signed last season, but believes he is underpaid in relation to many of his team-mates, which partly explains his threats to leave the club. Chelsea would like to keep Drogba, but are adamant they will not be held to ransom and have begun planning for his departure. The 30-year-old has spent many of his days off in recent months in Milan, where he owns a house, and is hoping that repeated interest from AC Milan will translate into a firm bid.

Much of Chelsea's rebuilding plans are on hold until the end of the season, which could yet culminate in an incredible double. Ballack insisted yesterday that all the pressure is on United, reflecting on his experience of losing the 2000 Bundesliga title with Bayer Leverkusen to illustrate the dangers of leading from the front all season. “Everything is in United's hands and the pressure is all on them now,” Ballack said. “With Leverkusen in the last game, we needed just a draw and Bayern Munich needed to win and we lost. It was even against a lower team in the league, so I know that anything is possible and this is possible.”

Ballack also called on Wigan Athletic to show the same professionalism against United on Sunday as they demonstrated against Chelsea last month, when they secured a point with a stoppage-time goal from Emile Heskey.

“We hope that Wigan play with the pride we know they have,” Ballack said. “When they played us a couple of weeks ago, they put four strikers on the pitch in the last four or five minutes to get something from the game. I hope they are not on their holidays.”