Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard will not be offered a long-term contract by Chelsea.
Both the veterans’ contract will expire at the end of the current season, both Cole and Lampard are eager to sort out their long term future at the club, but the contract policies in effect under Abramovich means that any player above thirty will only be offered a one year contract extension. This policy saw them lose Didier Drogba for free at the end of last season as the striker didn’t accept Chelsea’s offer of a short term contract.
Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard are free to negotiate with any club from January and the England left back has already been linked with the likes of PSG and Real Madrid. Drogba’s current club Shanghai Shenhua are also said to be interested in signing Frank Lampard. While Lampard is unlikely to leave the club, Ashley Cole might be a big loss for Chelsea.
“Frank and Ashley are still very important to Chelsea but if they stay it will only be on the club’s terms.
“Didier held out for more than one year last season and was given a take-it-or-leave-it offer.
“The owner has made it clear the same will apply to Frank and Ashley.” – a club source was quoted in the Sun.
While Frank Lampard might still sign the short term contract, it is hard to see Ashley Cole following suit. The former Arsenal man has already reportedly rejected a short term contract offered by Chelsea. While Chelsea does have a lot of options in midfield to cover for Lampard, they would certainly want to hold on to a world class defender like Cole.
Chelsea does not need much distraction particularry now we are facing the major challenge of the new season. The team need a lot of concentration to win Tottenham and Man U with boasting Chelsea reject ‘AVB’ and the premiership Master himself ‘Fergi’. All these talk of Cole and Lampard future must be suspended for now untill the job is done and done well.