LONDON - Chelsea's injured midfielder Michael Ballack has given new coach Avram Grant a major boost by confirming he has no intention of quitting the club.
The former Bayern Munich midfielder, struggling to regain full fitness following two ankle operations, wants to remain at the Premier League side for the rest of his career.
The Germany captain struggled to make an impact in the English league under former coach Jose Mourinho and was linked with a summer switch to Real Madrid.
Ballack has two years remaining on his current contract and, even though Grant has replaced Mourinho and Ajax coach Henk ten Cate is set to arrive shortly, the 31-year-old wants to remain part of the new look set-up.
Ballack told German TV station ARD: "I feel very happy here and would like to end my career here.
"Although I want to end my career at Chelsea, if I am still fit when my contract runs out, why should I not play on for another two years?"
Ballack's desire to stay at Stamford Bridge is matched by Ivory Coast striker Didier Drogba, who felt Mourinho's departure more than most.
Drogba was very close to the Portuguese coach, who left the club by mutual consent last month.
Even though he has been linked with a move to AC Milan, Drogba was quick to dispel the rumours.
He said: "Chelsea is my destiny today. I do not want the adventure to change. Milan? What a good club. But I have spoken to nobody."
Meanwhile Czech Republic goalkeeper Petr Cech admits it has been "extremely difficult" to overcome the upheaval at the club in the wake of Mourinho's exit.
But Cech believes the club have now turned the corner after beating Valencia in the Champions League and then recording their first Premier League win under Grant with a 1-0 success at Bolton.
Cech told CTK: "It was extremely difficult to put up with everything that happened. But now it seems that everything is moving towards a better period.
"We scored a goal in the league at last. It was very important - our scoring drought had lasted 460 minutes. We will see what happens when we all return to Chelsea from international duty, but I hope the Valencia game was a turning point."
Cech is also among five Chelsea stars on the shortlist for this year's FIFA World Player of the Year.
Cech is joined by England captain John Terry, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard and Drogba.
They were all named on the list of 30 players from around the world, put together by FIFA's technical committee.
The Blues are the second best represented club in the list, with only Barcelona (seven) having more nominations.
Voting is undertaken by the coach and captain of each international side, with individuals not allowed to vote for players from their own nation.
Previously, Frank Lampard finished second in 2005 behind Ronaldinho, while Andriy Shevchenko was placed third in 2004, when the Brazilian won the award for the first time.
