Chelsea’s policy of only offering one-year deals to players over 30, is about to cost them Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard, just as it did Didier Drogba last season.
ESPN reported last week that Cole had rejected a one-year contract offer from Chelsea, but is hoping that because he is only 31, that Roman Abramovich will make an exception to the rule.
The source told ESPN:
“Ashley would like nothing better than for Chelsea to change their policy about 30-year-olds. He is just 31 and still the best left-back in the world.
“Ashley hasn’t spoken to any interested clubs and doesn’t wish to, even though it is clear that some of the biggest clubs would want him on a free transfer.
“His greatest wish is to finish his career at Chelsea. He will wait to see what happens with Chelsea before he embarks on any talks with any other clubs.”
Cole is still one of the best left-backs in the world and teams like PSG and Real Madrid would have no problem offering him a long-term contract in January when he can start to talk to teams from overseas.
Unless Chelsea back down on their policy, I cannot see any way that Ashley Cole is still a Chelsea player next season.
I don’t think it is a clear-cut Lampard. Lamps is not at the same level as Cole in terms of performance and has become much more of a squad player this season. He has a standing two-year offer on the table from the LA Galaxy, but the question is how does Lampard want to finish his career? Does he want to finish it as a Chelsea player and then go into some sort of coaching role at the club, or does he want to continue to play every week for another couple of seasons?
