With Jose Mourinho recently stating that Cesar Azpilicueta is he preferred left-back it makes Ashley Cole’s position untenable.
It’s unlikely that Chelsea will offer Cole a new contract, if they did it will be unlikely that Cole would accept. At 33-years-old, the England international’s best football is behind him, he doesn’t want to be sitting on a bench wasting finite playing time. So it does seem inevitable that Cole will be leaving Stamford Bridge in the summer.
Could he stay in England? Liverpool need a left-back but their youthful transfer policy may force them to look elsewhere. While every team in the bottom-half of the table would bite your hand off for the chance to sign Ashley Cole. However, the problems arise when wages are discussed. With wages reported to be around £120,000, Cole will need to take a massive pay cut, something that he may not be inclined to do – in the past he has moved for monetary reasons.
Some football blogs are inclined to believe that Cole will spend his footballing Indian summer in the MLS. This is more than plausible. It is well known that Ashley likes America, it is one of his more frequent holiday jaunts. With him being an overseas player, clubs will not be impeded by wage-cap sanctions that the MLS inforce, meaning they can offer Cole an astronomical amount of money. Robbie Keane is in the MLS and he commands $80,000 a-week, so you’d expect Cole to get a handsome salary.
Man City backed New York FC are looking to build a side for the 2015 season, and Cole would offer them the chance to pull off a marque signing. There have also been rumours of a move to Monaco, which again will see Cole net a lucrative contract but more importantly he will be able to compete in the Champions League.
Cole’s future is well and truly in his hands and he’ll use the next six months to formulate some sort of plan for his future.
Where next for Ashley Cole?
