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Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti today confirmed he expects Joe Cole to become the 11th first-team player to commit his long-term future to the club this year.
Striker Saloman Kalou and defender Alex agreed new contracts earlier this week. That leaves Cole, who recently returned from injury, as the only member of the squad whose deal runs out next summer.
Chelsea have stepped up their contract negotiations with a number of players following FIFA's transfer ban, which they were officially appealing against to the Court of Arbitration for Sport today.
Chelsea were punished by FIFA after being found guilty of inducing Gael Kakuta to break his contract with Lens to join them in 2007.
England international Cole has been offered a four-year deal and Ancelotti said: "We want to keep Joe Cole for the future because he is in the same condition as Alex and Kalou.
"The fact that so many players signed is good for the club. Our aim is to maintain the squad. We can change one or two at the end of the season but the squad is very competitive.
"We want to maintain it and for us to do that we have to improve contracts of players."
Chelsea visit Aston Villa tomorrow and Ancelotti insists it is vital they get back to winning ways away from Stamford Bridge after losing last time out in the Premier League at Wigan.
Ancelotti said: "We need to play this match like we did against Liverpool, not Wigan. If we play like we did against Liverpool we can win but if it's like Wigan we will have a problem."
