Chelsea are willing to listen to offers for Nicolas Anelka at the end of the season. The France striker is the Barclays Premier League’s joint top scorer, with 15 goals, but will be available at the right price this summer as the club attempt to raise funds to complete an extensive overhaul of their squad.

Anelka’s goals kept Chelsea involved in the title race after they struggled under Luiz Felipe Scolari at the start of the season, but many at the club remain unconvinced of his potency at the highest level despite a haul of 21 goals in all competitions. It has been noted that the 29-year-old has not scored in any of Chelsea’s matches against their top-four rivals, while he has managed only one goal in the Champions League, in a 1-1 draw with Bordeaux last November.

Anelka has also suffered in comparison to Didier Drogba, whom Chelsea are desperate to keep at Stamford Bridge despite there being only one year remaining on his contract. Anelka’s form has dipped since Drogba returned to the side from injury — he has not scored in Chelsea’s past 11 matches — leading many at the club to question whether they can play together on a regular basis. Chelsea’s priority is to hang on to Drogba and they are willing to sacrifice Anelka to buy a more effective partner for the Ivory Coast striker.

Anelka’s excellent goalscoring record over a 12-year career should ensure there will be plenty of interest, but Chelsea will want to recoup the £15 million they paid Bolton Wanderers for his services in January 2008. Given such a price tag, Manchester City, his former club, and Tottenham Hotspur are the most likely bidders if Anelka opts to stay in England at the end of an itinerant career in which he has already represented eight clubs in four countries.

The former Arsenal striker could be one of several high-profile departures from Chelsea this summer as a new manager attempts to remodel an ageing squad, with the futures of Deco, Florent Malouda and Salomon Kalou also in doubt.

Chelsea’s immediate priority is a derby away to West Ham United this afternoon, but Guus Hiddink, the interim manager, will pick his side with an eye on the Champions League semi-final, first leg away to Barcelona on Tuesday. Ashley Cole is suspended for the game at the Nou Camp, so Hiddink will play José Bosingwa out of position at left back at Upton Park, with a view to giving him the far more daunting task of marking Lionel Messi on Tuesday. Bosingwa has been out for a month with a leg injury, but Hiddink insists that the Portugal defender is fully fit.

“Bosingwa will start there,” he said. “He’s fit and the injury has gone. He has practised this week, a rather tough practice, and there was no reaction.

“Bosingwa’s experience is important. It’s not common that a left-footed player plays right back, but you see more right-footed players playing at left back. I won’t say he’ll play on Tuesday, but whoever plays against Messi has a tremendous job to do. He is one of the most productive players in the world when he’s performing.”

Michael Essien, Michael Ballack and Drogba could also be rested this afternoon, but Hiddink confirmed he would not dare ask Frank Lampard to sit out against his old club. “If I would suggest that Frank should rest, he would be very angry,” he said. “Frank is one of those players who loves to play every day. When you see him after the Everton game the other day — normally a low-intensity session — he was doing his accelerations out on the pitch. He’s so strong. It’s in his nature to want to play.

“We have the squad fit, which means there can be a few other starters from the last game, so resting players is possible. But we have to take the league seriously.”