This is a bit of a surprise, but Ashley Cole has agreed to a new one-year deal with Chelsea. While the deal has not yet been officially signed, the formalities, of what is understood to be a one-year extension to his contract, are expected to be completed early next week.
Despite being linked with moves to Paris St-Germain, Real Madrid and Manchester United it is understood that Cole indicated to Chelsea he would prefer to stay at Chelsea.
I say it is a bit of a surprise because Chelsea were offering Cole only a one-year deal. I am sure that PSG or Real Madrid would have offered the England left-back a multi-year deal. But he took the Chelsea deal.
While Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich has been focused on systematically phasing-out the old guard of players at Chelsea, in Cole’s case, it might be that they could not get anyone better in. Ryan Bertrand has not progressed this season, and even at 31 years of age, is their a better left back in football?
The other unsigned veteran that Chelsea have is Frank Lampard, but in his case, there is no inclination on Chelsea’s part to offer him a new deal, which is why I expect Lampard to leave Chelsea this summer, with the LA Galaxy being his ,most likely destination.