Chelsea demand £25M for Real Madrid target Cole

Real Madrid are chasing Chelsea left-back Ashley Cole.

The Daily Mail says the Spanish club are looking for a world-class recruit to replace the disappointing Alvaro Arbeloa this summer and believe Cole's personal problems could tempt him to quit the Barclays Premier League.

Chelsea's high demands are a barrier to the deal - with the Blues thought to be seeking at least £25million for the 29-year-old - but the Bernabeu giants will persist in their pursuit if given encouragement by the player's camp.

They could even tempt him with a 50 per cent increase on his current £100,000 a week Stamford Bridge deal, which still has another three full seasons to run.

There are suggestions that Cole could seek a move abroad to escape headlines revealing alleged affairs, revelations that led to a separation with wife Cheryl.

Comments (15)

should add drogba and mikel to that list

Getting old, and send Joe with him. Use the cash to buy some young talent.

PL Transfer Targets Summer 2010 Chelsea
I'd personally like to see both our Cole's stay, they will both be difficult to replace.
Deco, Belletti, Ferreira and Malouda OUT Definitely
Joe Cole, Ashley Cole, Kalou, Anelka OUT Possibly
DECO: The options; RVDV, Mata, Silva, Hamsik, Dzagoev, Pjanic, Teixeira, Kaka, Alcantara, Danny
Its no secret that Chelsea are chasing Hamsik and that RVDV has been mentioned is the Chelsea/RM jostling of recent times.Question is will Hamsik leave Italy (Inter Offer) and will RVDV give a poor showing here too. Teixeira, Dzagoev and Pjanic are young, but we could certainly use their youth, and with Lampard ageing signing two of them, but only bringing one to the Bridge for now is certainly not out of the question. Mata and Silva are certainly in the mix but there will be a lot of competition for their signatures. Kaka is th dark horse, he almost joined Chelsea in 2005, is a good mate of Carlo and is unhappy and unproductive at RM. Thiago Alcantara would be good, but I'd rather him to come in a few years, maybe a loan to Twente ? Danny would be a good signing but perhaps not quite as good as David Silva or Kaka
MALOUDA: options; di Maria, Ribery, Krasic, Silva, Mata, Urreta, Dzagoev, Pjanic, Teixeira, Alcantara, Ki, Hazard
di Maria and Ribery are the obvious choices, but again there will be war for their signatures. Krasic would be great, but at the moment he seems destined to go elsewhere. Again Silva and Mata are propositions, but Mata emerges as the favourite with his left wing experience. I like Urreta and he would be great alongside Kakuta, di Maria or Ribery, but he's probably a 2012 signing. Dzagoev, Teixeira and Pjanic are all young, they could spend some time on the left before moving to the centre of midfield. Thiago Alcantara would be good, but I'd rather him to come in a few years, maybe a loan to Twente ? Ki Sung–Yueng is talented and would be a boon for Chelsea merch sales in Korea. Hazard has been very impressive but I think we'd face a stiff fight from AW for him.
BELLETTI and FERREIRA: the options; S Taylor, M Mancienne, N Subotic, D Luiz
Mancienne is the cheapest option, with Taylor estimated at about 9 million and considerably more for Subotic, this may come down to price. D Luiz however is probably the best option.
JOE COLE; Options; Schwiensteiger, Stoch, Assulin
Schweinsteiger is the ideal replacement for Ballack but he could also replace Joe Cole, making Stoch the probable pick, its a shame Maxi went to Liverpool then he would have been ideal. Gai Assulin would be a great get but we are competing with AFC for him.
ASHLEY COLE: Options: Vargas, Dani Alves
Vargas is the only real option I see, i hope we don't loose Ashley, though Vargas is good. Alves obvioulsy plays on the right and is not a real option to replace Ashley, but could be part of swap deal with Barca for Ashley
ANELKA: Options: Villa, Pato, Aguero, Gomis, Balotelli, Lacina Traore
Villa is expensive and ageing but good, Pato seems destined to one day join Chelsea, Aguero should if he stops mucking us about, Gomis is strong talented and young, as is Balotelli while Lacina Traore at 6'8 would obviously help us maintain our size advantage.
KALOU: Options: Nilmar, Morimoto
Morimoto is a bright young star in Serie A, and would blast our Japanese Merch sales into the stratosphere. Villreal's cash crisis may see Nilmar move to the Bridge, which would be a good move.
Youth Striker: Lukaku, and potentially Christian Eriksen as well.
GK: Igor Akinfeev is now probably a highly probable signing given Hilario's recent performances, a fight between him and Cech for the No1 spot would be a good problem to have.