Chelsea are set to speed up the signing of Bolton's Nicolas Anelka in a bid to strengthen their attacking options ahead of Saturday's Premier League clash with Tottenham.
Chelsea's striking crisis has been compounded by an ankle injury to Andriy Shevchenko while Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou are on international duty with the Ivory Coast for their African Nations Cup build-up.
Chelsea's problems in attack were underlined during their last-gasp 2-1 win over Everton in the first leg of their Carling Cup semi-final at Stamford Bridge last night.
A first-half goal from England winger Shaun Wright-Phillips and an own goal in added time by Everton defender Joleon Lescott gave Chelsea a slender advantage to take to Goodison Park for the second leg in a fortnight's time.
The Blues' initial bid for Anelka has been rejected by Bolton who are alleged to value the Frenchman at £15million but Grant now hopes the pace of the negotiations will quicken in time for the player to make his debut against Spurs.
Grant said: "We have confirmed our interest in Anelka. We wanted him for yesterday and I hope that he will now get him for Saturday. If not we'll continue with the players that we have. We are missing three strikers so it's important to do it quickly."
