ANDRE VILLAS-BOAS says he will not sell Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka in January and would rather risk losing them for nothing. Drogba, 33, Anelka, 32, fellow striker Salomon Kalou, 26, and full-back Jose Bosingwa, 29, are in the final year of their Chelsea contracts.
But AVB insists he is under no pressure from owner Roman Abramovich to cash in on the �60million quartet while he still can.
He says he has no doubts about their commitment even though they will soon be free to open negotiations with rival clubs.
Arsenal sold Samir Nasri for �24m rather than let him run down his contract.
But Villas-Boas said: "We won't need to sell these players. Apart from Anelka, we have offered them contracts and talks are on-going, "Even if we get to January with no agreements, their loyalty will not be questioned. We'll try to reach an agreement but the important thing is for the team to defend its interests on the pitch."
Chelsea allowed big names such as Michael Ballack, Joe Cole, Andriy Shevchenko and Deco to go for nothing.
And in spite of spending �150m on new signings in 2011, it appears Abramovich is prepared to risk losing another four players who cost the club a combined �60m.
On top of that, Chelsea paid �13.5m to Porto for AVB, who celebrated two years in management yesterday.
Chairman Bruce Buck says he wants AVB to stay for 10 years but the manager said: "You can never predict the future. I have a three-year contract and just hope to improve the club in all areas."
Meanwhile, Buck has insisted Abramovich does not stand to gain financially from any possible stadium move.
Buck said: "To build a new stadium of 55,000 to 60,000 seats would cost in the region of �450million which, with the land, would total maybe �500m to �550m. There is no possibility for Mr Abramovich to make money."
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