Cole’s leaving, but how much for? at Gunnerblog

Cole’s leaving, but how much for?

0 guns July 25th, 2006

Ashley Cole will almost certainly leave Arsenal for Chelsea, possibly as soon as this week. However, if this is to be the case, then Arsenal aren’t going to let him go on the cheap, with the latest reports suggesting that we’re asking for Â£25m in exchange for the left-back.

And why not? If Shaun Wright-Phillips, Didier Drogba, and Michael Essien were all bought for Â£20m+, then Cole should be no different. Apparently Chelsea’s opening bid of Â£16m was rejected this week, though I’m led to believe negotiations have been ongoing for some time, perhaps even before the end of the World Cup.

Although I’m sure we’d prefer Cole to go abroad, there doesn’t seem to be any interest from Real Madrid, who might stick with Roberto Carlos for one more season.

Elsewhere, Dennis Bergkamp has suggested that Patrick Vieira might consider returning (seems unlikely though), whilst Arsenal have been linked with the Vieira-esque Alou Diarra.

Tonight sees the first pre-season friendly of our tour of Austria as we take on SV Mattersburg. Gooners out there have noted that one player is conspicuous by absence, as he has been for a couple of years now:

Just where is Ryan Garry???

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35 Comments Add your own

1. Khunthol | July 25th, 2006 at 8:31 am

I would have been happy for Chelsea to have Cole for Â£16 mill, but if we hold out for Â£20 mill plus then it is a fantastic deal. One that gives us very good money in exchange for selling a greedy little twat. Bye Bye Cashley - may you be booed at the Emirates.
2. al | July 25th, 2006 at 8:42 am

I know its unlikely and they never happen in real life (only the tabloids!) but Gallas and 10-12 million would be excellent. 10-12million is enough to find a left back and a central midfielder, whilst Gallas will bring experience all over the back four. Seems better than pure cash but as thats likely; a cool 20+ million isn’t too be sniffed at considering it’ll be in Wengers hands!
3. bob | July 25th, 2006 at 8:46 am

Having been away for a few weeks I return to the same old stories and speculations.
Most seem to centre around how we undervalue our team and how we would all like it to be replaced by other players bought from hapless Italian teams for vastly inflated fees.
Lets look at the facts. We only lost in the Champions League final by a whisker and finished fourth in the strongest league in Europe. Playing with a developing side that will better this season.
Most of the anxiety stems from a lack of faith in Wenger and his unwillingness to purchase big name players. How can Abou Diaby be any good? Who had ever heard of him etc. And the repeated what we need isâ?¦â?¦..
Have faith, forget the transfers and remember we will start against Aston Villa with Lehmann, Eboue, Toure, Cygan, Flamini, Helb, Gilberto, Cesc, Freddie or Reyes, Henry and Adebayor or RVP. A great side and the result will be 3-0.
4. Lazz | July 25th, 2006 at 8:47 am

yeah,sure cole is a superb player but why keep a player who has been talkkin s**f about arsenal in the media.it will be a good deal if we manage to get gallas as wel. We can use the cash to buy at least 2 quality players i.e baptista/diarra and curtis davies.Hope he breaks a leg at chelski(literall)…greedy prat
5. Clock End Gooner | July 25th, 2006 at 8:52 am

To be honest, i’ll be fucking fuming, if we sell Cole to them Chav cunts! What signal is that sending out to everyone, in football…? that we are willing to sell our once, vital players, to our nearest rivals and whatever Chelsea want, they eventually get…! Even if they have been done for tapping up the same players, in the past!
I reckon we should accpet the first Â£15+ offer from abroad n’ if Cole don’t accept it, then lob the little cunt in the reserves!

“OHH ASHLEY COLE, HE’S A FUCKING ASS-HOLE…”
6. Rudi | July 25th, 2006 at 8:59 am

Ashley Cole is in my opinion very over rated! If you look at where the goals against come from they are usually down the left side at Arsenal!

I think Clichy is a far better defender than Cole and is more than able to support the attack, so let’s give this kid a chance, I think he deserves it.

Also looking at the Bergkamp Testimonial on Saturday, we have a very promising left back in Traore coming through the ranks. He was our best player in the first half.
7. H Harrison | July 25th, 2006 at 8:59 am

Cashley, cashley, cashley, poor little boy, have you learnt nothing? You once stood in North Bank alongside many of us supporting our beloved team, then we stood their supporting you fulfilling your dream and part of us ran on to that pitch with you as it was one of ours playing for the Red and white of Arsenal. Forget your Â£5k or whatever you felt let down on, you say the club hung you out to dry and fed you to the sharks, maybe an individual did I don’t know but it wasn’t the Club.The club, our team your team will be here in one hundred years from now when we are all gone, no one is bigger than the club, no one. On saturday loyalty was repaid to a loyal and committed servant of the Club, he has already brought his box to come and watch the team play during his retirement from playing. I was hoping that you’d see sense and apologise to the fans not to whoever pissed you off thats between you and them, jesus 60k is more than enough to play for your boyhood team. All your concerned about is you, Arsenal is and has always been about much more than just you, me or anyone it is an institution that has standards and values, but when you decide to bite the hand that has fed and developed you into what you are, all I can say is go forth and multiply yourself and I know you will later regret your actions, there is only one Arsenal, at least when Sol left the spuds his contract had run down and he wanted to acheive things, you could have stayed and helped us to more trophies in a spankers stadium, take your new wag and your deluded beliefs to chelski and I hope you fail to be happy. Thanks for nothing.
8. Stuart Hitchings | July 25th, 2006 at 9:00 am

Gotta love the way we wait until Chelsea sell Del Horno and need cover at left back, then jack up the fee. That’s smart negotiating. I’d rather Cole went overseas, preferably to a minor club in a minor league, but mostly I just want rid of him. A part swap for Gallas would be fantastic, especially given he’s handy at left back, even if he doesn’t like playing there.
9. Gelbs | July 25th, 2006 at 9:06 am

Cole can fuck off. 20m quid would be great too.

As for Vieira/Diarra, either of them should make it into the starting XI given the players we’re left with right now. Our midfield seems to get worse every year. Now that’s the case with the def too.

For all those who think I don’t respect TA from my last post, you’re wrong. Right now, I would do anything for a back line like the Dixon Adams Bould Winterburn of old instead of the current bunch. I was just saying that he wasn’t up to the cut towards his final years.
10. AlexHleb | July 25th, 2006 at 9:21 am

Things to look forward to at least:
1) Hleb/Walcott searing past Cole down the right wing
2) Lauren hacking down the cunt on every forward run at the Grove.
3) Getting to truly test our new stadium’s acoustics.
4) ‘Clichy 3′ becoming the best LB in the world.
5) Removing our clubs connections with Girls Are Loud.
11. H Harrison | July 25th, 2006 at 9:40 am

AlexHleb: Just love comment 2. Spot on cannot wait to see lauren tear him in two.
12. gazzap | July 25th, 2006 at 9:46 am

is ashley cole that good a defender? he is a great attacking full back but the chavs want a DEFENDER. They wont get one. not one thats any better than they had anyway. he will be told to stay back and that will ruin his game. Good.
They told SWP to work hard and defend the wide positions and they ruined him too. now he is f*****d in their reserves.
13. DC | July 25th, 2006 at 10:08 am

How long before Clichy’s ready to play?
14. Dean | July 25th, 2006 at 10:39 am

A geezer at the game on Saturday said he had “heard from the horses mouth” (whoever that may be), that we are getting SWP and Wayne Brigde in exchange. I’d bite their hands clean off for that.
15. Little Dutch | July 25th, 2006 at 10:54 am

“If you take a dog, feed him and make him well, he will not bite you. This is the difference between a dog and a man.” Mark Twain. Ashley, you are a colossal cunt and don’t expect anything but unrepentant laughter from Ashburton Grove when Chavski get bored of you next summer and dump you, leaving your career to do what is commonly known as “an Anelka.”
16. eddiem | July 25th, 2006 at 11:09 am

chelsea have 2 geezers up front who head the ball….ashely cole couldn’t cross the fucking road, let a lone a football. He’s not tall, so useless at set pieces and doesn’t score goals. Â£16m + for a full back is great business - when was the last time a team won a title thanks to its left back? chelsea have managed just fine the last 2 years with “lesser” left backs and having him in our team hasn’t helped us win the Champions League (Belletti winner from our left anyone?) so I don’t see why they’re so keen on him.

And another thing: Villareal are accepting bids of Â£3m for the Argentinian captain, Sorin. I would take him on for 3 years to play with Clichy and Traore and spend the rest of the cash on 2 more players (one defender and a midfielder). Ashley Cole’s going because he’s a bit thick, his agent is manipulating him to line his own pockets and because he wants to “hang out” with his London boyz - JT, Joe Cole and Frank. Sad cunt.
17. Crazymayz | July 25th, 2006 at 11:19 am

Im so glad all of us Arsneal fans have the same opinion of that arsehole called Ashley Cole. We hung him out to dry? Damn right we did. He was the one caught being tapped up. hes wanted to leave for over a year now. Its only beacuse we got to the champions league final he decided to get off his arse and play. Greedy fucker will end up a sulking old git on the chelsea bench. If Chelsea have all that money then they should pay the Â£25 million or exchange gallas + 15. The future is still bright and without Cole!
18. Alan | July 25th, 2006 at 11:28 am

I’ve been thinking, off topic. As the current squad stands, who would you say our “World Class” are? Not including Cole as he probably going. But I would say obviously, Henry, Toure and maybe Rosicky. Fabregas still has potential and the other players are still young and although good. Not proven and world class. Thinking back to the unbeaten season, we had about 7 or 8. Who would you say our world class players are?
19. Alan 14 | July 25th, 2006 at 11:35 am

I said we should rise our price a long time ago,great news im sure chelsea wont mind paying more,just wait and see
20. Alan | July 25th, 2006 at 11:38 am

Two different Alan’s btw.
21. Jamie Pullman | July 25th, 2006 at 11:39 am

It was brilliant to let the Chelsea wankers sell their left back before upping the price for Cole. Fantastic, screw the bastards till they squeak, then sell him to Scunthorpe and District Co-op second 11 for Â£50 and a 95% sell-on percentage.
22. Rohan | July 25th, 2006 at 11:42 am

I really want to keep hold of him though. He’s the best in his position. Who we gonna get instead??
23. Alan | July 25th, 2006 at 11:45 am

Doesn’t make sense. Rooney and Ferdinand although over-priced, go for 30 million quid. Cole is supposed to be the best left back in the world, at least in Europe. So technically speaking, he should be sold for around 30 million as well. Doesn’t make sense. If I was Arsenal, I would push Chelsea for as much as possible, and it looks like they’re doing that. If no-one comes in, I would let Cole rot in the reserves for 2 years until his contract runs down. Money or no money. Pay backs a bitch eh?
24. Alan | July 25th, 2006 at 11:48 am

And how anyone who is barely 25 years old and writing an autobiography already really is an arrogant cocky prick. He hasn’t even finished playing. Hasn’t achieved shit enough to write about his own life etc. “won title with Arsenal.” “got fed to the sharks” “married Girls Aloud singer”. Prick.
25. Grimster | July 25th, 2006 at 11:59 am

I hope it gets sorted out by today so we can go about getting the replacement in. Allso add 1 or 2 new faces in time for the champs league qualifier. Give them the rest of preseason to get at least aquainted with the players. The longer it goes on the less time before the season starts to get new signings in red and white.
26. colecold | July 25th, 2006 at 12:39 pm

cole maybe definitely be one of the best leftback in the world but as mention above, left back don help u win games.. and for his terrible moral, arsenal should sell him away.. if chelsea wan him, den make it a 25 million pounds… while chelsea are rich, i am not so sure they will take the 25 million bid as is more like a ramsom to them.. they are not idiots.. well cold cole.. i guess u seems to like money more than football.. while u r following the footstep of beckham.. u r sure far from him… beckham is 100 times better looking than u and at least he stay loyal to man u and never say anything bad to his former club… is fergie who dump him.. so what now cole.. u wan to be a mega star celebrity with your beloved wife… get ready for some backlash when u come back to ash… cause we going to burn u like ash
27. greg | July 25th, 2006 at 1:01 pm

We had quality left backs before Cole and we will continue to have quality when this horse’s ass is gone, no need to worry.
28. colecold | July 25th, 2006 at 1:37 pm

There used to be a man named wenger. He owned a small little textile company.One day, he saw a young boy crying on the street. wenger ask him ” whats wrong boy? ” the young boy relate tht his parents had left him. Wenger took him in and raised him like his own son naming him Cole.Though poor, they were happy and wenger slowly gloom into a fashion designer and gave him a post in his company. Cole was highly talented and slowly become a very famous designer. However, a millionare russian clothe maker soon spotted cole and wanted him to join his firm. Cole was tempted by the proposal from the russian mafia as he provide much higher wage compare to his country. Poor Cole, he was spotted by a collegue discussing the terms with tht russian. Wenger become suspicious and under the law a person under a company’s contract is not allowed to discuss terms with another company. Cole was charge with attempt fraud to cheat his company. COle went berserk and claim Wenger hang him out on the dark. cole ended up with the russian firm 2 years down the road. It was understood tht Cole went paralyse after the russian company’s building collapse. It was believed tht the building collapse because of an earthquake from the north bank
29. y-frontman | July 25th, 2006 at 2:27 pm

Gwyn Williams (cheif scout at chelsea) has finally admitted in an interview with BBC what we all already knew.

Mourinho uses Champ Man to pick his transfers.

when talking about his methods of picking players to recommend he says; “I also used a computer database of 70,000 footballers, which could immediately call up all their statistics for the last four years.”

Clearly talking about Champ Man. well lets hope it tells him to get cole out. Wee Scumbag
30. Rohan | July 25th, 2006 at 2:54 pm

Might be getting Davies now cos West Brom are parently lining up Danny Shittu…
31. Alan | July 25th, 2006 at 3:07 pm

What a name. Player like that has to be shit.
32. Eesan | July 25th, 2006 at 3:26 pm

I’m a Arsenal fan and I found the following article on Vitalfootball web site wrote by a Chelsea fan ( or member)

“Â£25m for Ashley Cole is scandalous. My opinions on him are well-known - I think Bridgey is at least as good, and i would like him to be our first-choice left-back, with Gallas, Ferreira, and Elmer as cover.

We should not give Arsenal Â£25m to play with. Wenger has bought some good players lately (and i think Rosicky is going to be immense for them) and Â£25m will buy them more quality - we cant afford to do it.

Also its the principle of it - why should we be held to ransom? I wouldnt pay it out of principle even if i did want Cole badly. Better to let him rot in their reserves for a season and leave on a Bosman - serves the slimey little so-and-so right for being so disloyal. I understand the Gooner’s anger with him - if it was a Chelsea player meeting Wenger and Dein on the quiet, i’d go mental. So would Jose I suspect. Do we want a player capable of this kind of disloyalty? No. Better let him erode their team-spirit rather than ours.”
33. lasagnechef | July 25th, 2006 at 7:51 pm

as soon as cole goes the better. then we can start planning for the new season. Oh and for those of you who dont know we beat SV Mattersburg 2-1 tonight
34. Rohan | July 25th, 2006 at 9:22 pm

Rosicky debut
35. David | August 1st, 2006 at 5:51 am

I can understand the anger on here, but let’s face facts. Cole is 2nd-best LB in Europe (after Zambrotta). He CAN defend (unlike three years ago). He is fast, good going forward, has a good motor and has a great deal of experience at the highest level. Based on that, he is a big gain for Chelsea. Mourinho would have a left back he could trust in both defence and attack against anyone in the world.
The best we can hope for is a Â£30m+ fee and for Cole to crash and burn at Stamford Bridge. But unlike Lyon or Milan when negotiating with Chelsea, the player wants to help them get a low fee, not us get a high fee.

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