Chelsea give permission for Milan to approach Drogba

[TheGift]

MILAN, June 8 (Reuters) - Chelsea have given AC Milan the green light to approach Didier Drogba about a possible transfer but they are not willing to sell back former player Andriy Shevchenko, the Serie A club’s vice president said.

“Chelsea have authorised us to open negotiations with Drogba,” Adriano Galliani said in an interview in Sunday’s La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Unfortunately, the response we feared came (for Shevchenko). Chelsea consider Andriy unsellable. This epilogue makes us very sad.”

Galliani said that the seven-times European champions had also started talks with the agent of Barcelona forward Samuel Eto’o.

He said the Cameroonian was willing to consider a move to the San Siro even though Milan would play in the UEFA Cup next season after finishing fifth in Serie A, but he added that they faced stiff competition from English clubs to sign him.

Galliani reiterated that Milan were interested in Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor too, but said they had not asked the London club for permission to make an approach.

Arsenal Manager Arsene Wenger has warned Milan not to try to lure away the Togo striker, whose contract with the Premier League outfit runs until 2011.

Wenger said in a separate interview with Sunday’s Gazzetta that he was confident Arsenal would hang onto Adebayor and fend off Real Madrid’s attempts to sign Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas.

“There is no chance that Cesc will leave Arsenal so I hope they (the fans) are reassured,” he said.

“(As for Adebayor), in this case the situation seems clear to me too, given that his contract was renewed recently.”

Galliani also told Gazzetta that Milan had agreed to buy the half of Luca Antonini’s contract they did not already own from relegated Empoli, with whom the midfielder played last season.

Chelsea give permission for Milan to approach Drogba - World Soccer - Yahoo! Sports