It’s been a long road since rumours first surfaced about Ashley Cole leaving Stamford Bridge. Chelsea fans were ultimately pleased that the speculation was wide of the mark and the England left-back has since agreed a one year extension to his current contract. The 32 year old is now contracted to the club until the end of next season.
But Chelsea still need to find a longer term solution. Cole has been a superb player for Chelsea and has shown great consistency throughout his Stamford Bridge career. He will be very hard to replace. The Daily Mail reports that Chelsea are well under way with their search for a replacement and made a £10m bid for Southampton and England U-21 left back Luke Shaw in January.
The bid was obviously rejected but the Mail says that Chelsea will persist with the idea of bringing Shaw to the club. He’s only 17 but Chelsea seem certain that he is the man to fill the huge boots of Cole in the longer term. Cole has always been a very fit athlete and should be able to play a couple more years at the top for Chelsea. If Shaw does come, he will get time to learn from the master before he eventually becomes first choice at Chelsea.
Here’s a highlights video of his impressive performance against his potential future employers at the start of the year.
