1.news :)

Benzema bait! Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho offers striker to land Chelsea's Ashley Cole

Chelsea have been offered Real Madrid misfit Karim Benzema as part of Jose Mourinho's plan to lure Ashley Cole to the Bernabeu.

Aware that Chelsea are on the look out for another world-class striker after seemingly missing out on Liverpool's Fernando Torres, Real are prepared to offer the £30million-rated Frenchman plus cash for the England left back.

Cole has told Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti he would be open to a move to reunite with former boss Mourinho due to personal problems. He fits the bill for the Portuguese manager, who is not convinced by his current options, Marcelo and Alvaro Arbeloa, and missed out on new Manchester City signing Aleksandar Kolarov.

But Mourinho may struggle to prise Cole from Stamford Bridge, with Ancelotti saying earlier this week that the 29-year-old would not be leaving under any circumstances.

'Ashley Cole is and will remain a Chelsea player,' he said. 'Everyone can forget the idea he will leave this club. There's no price that will make us sell.'

While that may be the Italian's stance in public, in private he seems to be genuinely concerned about losing Cole and has asked about signing Porto left back Jorge Fucile as a potential replacement.

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But Benzema, 22, could prove a shrewd signing for Ancelotti. He commanded a £36m fee when he joined Real from Lyon last season - he chose the Spaniards ahead of Manchester United - but he struggled at the Bernabeu, scoring just eight times and becoming a peripheral figure under Manuel Pellegrini.

His lack of form saw him miss out on France's World Cup squad - although he has been recalled by new coach Laurent Blanc - and he faces a battle for a starting place at Real with Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of him in the pecking order.

He may be wary that the situation might not be that much easier at Chelsea, where Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka could also block his path.

While Cole's departure remains a possibility, another Real target, Frank Lampard, looks almost certain to stay. The midfielder, who scored in Chelsea's 2-1 defeat by Hamburg on Wednesday, says being back with the champions has helped him get over the misery of England's World Cup disaster.

'I've got to be honest, the disappointing summer isn't affecting Chelsea,' he said. 'There is no niggling mental effect from that at all. Of course we're disappointed with England but it's almost a breath of fresh air to return to Chelsea.

'We won the Double last year and that's a nice feeling. When the England games come then we will approach that but, in terms of Chelsea, it's exciting to be back.'

The trouble for Lampard and his England colleagues is that the next international is on Wednesday so that feel-good factor will be decidedly short-lived.

'The rest was about a month which is plenty for me,' he added. 'I have only been back a week and a half so I am not going to be quite there yet. But that's how it is this pre-season and I think a lot of clubs are having the same problem, trying to get those who played in the World Cup ready as quickly as possible. My main concern is to be fit for the first game of the season.'

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2.news

Chelsea go for Coentrao and will let Ashley leave - Exclusive

Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti will let Ashley Cole move to Real Madrid - as he closes in on his replacement, £16m rated Portugal World Cup star Fabio Coentrao.

Cole has pestered Ancelotti for the past week about being allowed to quit Stamford Bridge and England - and now Chelsea have decided to open the exit door.

The double winners are in talks with Benfica about both Coentrao and Brazilian David Luiz.

Reports in Portugal claim they have made an offer for Luiz, who also plays centre half, but Chelsea insiders claim converted winger Coentrao is also on their wanted list.

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i dotn want any player who doesnt want to be here, so... a.cole GL in real madrid :) coentrao is young and i think he will be great replace for a.cole

btw benzema is young and great, maybe he'll get his form back into the premiership (pls god ;D) . soo.. i don't see any problems :)))

cya

I like both players but I want Ashley to stay. I think that the whole "he doesn't want to be here" thing is blown out of proportion.

Hmm...coentrao *slaps myself* Ashley must stay here.

This is ridiculous.

We lose Ashley, and we need to pull some more home grown players from out of our arse, meaning we won't be able to fit the new players into the team anyway.

a.cole want to play for real madrid, and i think this time anceloti will let him go

Edited August 6, 201014 yr by amART

So the only solid fact in that article is Ancelotti saying Ashley Cole is staying at Chelsea. Go figure.

"While that may be the Italian's stance in public, in private he seems to be genuinely concerned about losing Cole and has asked about signing Porto left back Jorge Fucile as a potential replacement."

^

What is this based on exactly?

Might hurt us slightly in the short-term but has to be beneficial in the long-term. A 22 year old Benzema who has tremendous talent and can pretty much turn into anything and a 22 year old left back who IMO could possibly be a top 5 left back in a few years.

Ashley Cole is a tremendous player and best left back in the world however he is 29. Getting a great striker who was misused in Real and a possible replacement left back would no doubt be a great bit of business for us if true.

Coentrao is great defensively, played very well against Brazil and Spain, in addition Portugal have a crazy clean sheet record like 15 from their last 19 games. He's also great offensively and probably the only lb in the world that can match Cole in that respect.

Don't want to lost Ashley, however if the unthinkable happens and he does leave to Real, then getting Coentrao as a replacement and a striker who could play a significant role for us for 5-10 years, would definitely lessen the pain

This is ridiculous.

We lose Ashley, and we need to pull some more home grown players from out of our arse, meaning we won't be able to fit the new players into the team anyway.

At least someone is ahead of the game, Cam you can point this issue out a thousand times, but it still gets ignored.

If Ashley goes and a foreign player comes in, (replaces him) we would have to lose another foreign player from the squad (ideally Kalou )

Edited August 6, 201014 yr by Tim W

NO, NO, NO!!! We don't need Benzema!!

Seriously why are we still even posting these things?

What part of: "Ashley Cole is and will remain a Chelsea player. Everyone can forget the idea he will leave this club. There is no price that will make us sell" don't people understand?

Edited August 6, 201014 yr by Spiller86

If Ashley cole wants to escape the media attention , why hold him ? It is going to frustrate him as well as he is going to frustrate the england public with his actions and comments. ( if the media reports are indeed true )

I really like A.cole as a chelsea player , the best LB surely . But if it is true that Benzema will be swapped and possibility that coentrao could come in is a great news and a good bit of business .

As regards the home grown rule , We will have to do away with Paulo , Ricky to accomodate the non home grown recruits .

Seriously why are we still even posting these things?

What part of: "Ashley Cole is and will remain a Chelsea player. Everyone can forget the idea he will leave this club. There is no price that will make us sell" don't people understand?

Same/Similar things were said regarding Joe Cole. I wouldn't put too much attention into what managers say. Carlo cannot possibly say that Ashley wants out because that will give the cards over to Real who can then bargain in prime position. Even if Cole wanted to leave and was truly disgruntled at staying in England, I highly doubt Carlo will openly claim that to the media.

As for the situation there appears to be too much smoke for there not to be a fire. If Cole leaves because of personal reasons then we should honor it. Football players are human, I know I wouldn't stay at a work place if I didn't enjoy it.

Not saying that this will happen or that I want it to happen however there is a realistic probability Cole could leave us this summer =(

Why on earth are people obsessed with pointing out that Ash is 'already 29' like that means he's got about 1/2 a season left in him before his hair falls out, his eyesight goes, and his legs fall off.

The guy has shown no signs whatsoever that he is in any way slowing down - if anything, he is getting better and better - and there is no reason why he couldn't play at the top level for another 5 years.

The idea that we should ship out the best left back in the world because he is 'getting on a bit', is ridiculous.

Why on earth are people obsessed with pointing out that Ash is 'already 29' like that means he's got about 1/2 a season left in him before his hair falls out, his eyesight goes, and his legs fall off.

The guy has shown no signs whatsoever that he is in any way slowing down - if anything, he is getting better and better - and there is no reason why he couldn't play at the top level for another 5 years.

The idea that we should ship out the best left back in the world because he is 'getting on a bit', is ridiculous.

Havent you heard, apparently once a player turns 30 now hes no use to the club whatsoever. Remember the grief over Lampards contract because he was 31? remember the amount of times people witter on about players ages as though no player over 30 has ever done well for us. It seriously pisses me off how some people cant grasp that some players are able to play well into their 30`s, and in A Cole and Lamps we have 2 of the fittest players in the league.

Havent you heard, apparently once a player turns 30 now hes no use to the club whatsoever. Remember the grief over Lampards contract because he was 31? remember the amount of times people witter on about players ages as though no player over 30 has ever done well for us. It seriously pisses me off how some people cant grasp that some players are able to play well into their 30`s, and in A Cole and Lamps we have 2 of the fittest players in the league.

Well if the government had its way they would still be playing at 70

Ashley's been huge for us.....

But i'd swap him for Benzema on the same wages. Don't let his poor form at Madrid fool you. He is an excellent player as we'll see if he stays and plays under Mourinho or goes to Man Utd (a club who'd love to have him)

Why on earth are people obsessed with pointing out that Ash is 'already 29' like that means he's got about 1/2 a season left in him before his hair falls out, his eyesight goes, and his legs fall off.

The guy has shown no signs whatsoever that he is in any way slowing down - if anything, he is getting better and better - and there is no reason why he couldn't play at the top level for another 5 years.

I think 5 years is pushing it but I do agree.

I am one of the "ageist" posters on here but it is never in respect of individual players. What concerns me is the number of key players where age is creeping up on them. Sure you can play Ash & Frank - no problem -as said already, they are two of the fittest players around. It's when the same side has also contained Carvalho, Drogba, Anelka & Ballack/Beletti, that I think we then have a problem.

It's all about balance.

I don't believe a word of either. But if they were true, it would be the next best option.

Well, I watched WC and Coentrao was bombing down the flank I remember delivering good crosses in.

But I would never swap him for A.Cole and it wont happen as he is not leaving.

With everything considered, I wouldn't blame Ash if he wanted to leave, so there could well be some truth in this.

I don't want him to of course, he's f**king incredible, even in the match vs Hamburg just reminded me of how awesome he is, but if he wants to go, then we should respect that and just try and get the best deal we can, and the best replacement, so maybe this isn't such a bad deal.

Really hope he stays though, amazing player.

if we do get rid of cole its not the end of the world and we dont need to buy our squad is big enough to cope, with our defender being versitile and a ot of thm being able to pretty much play right across the back, we lso have van arnholt not sure how to spell it of the top of my head, young free and full of talent.

Seriously why are we still even posting these things?

What part of: "Ashley Cole is and will remain a Chelsea player. Everyone can forget the idea he will leave this club. There is no price that will make us sell" don't people understand?

Jose still wants to buy him...

All things considered i think it would be a good deal. At the highest level he maybe has what, 4 seasons left in him? Benzema has at least double that and could end up being brilliant here like he was at Lyon. I like Coentrao alot aswell and i would welocme him here as Cole's replacement.

Jose still wants to buy him...

we could find a space in our squad for Ronaldo lets see how much Jose wants Ash

seriously though really cant see this happening now the home grown rule has come in, we'd have to bring in a quality player who fits the rule as our squad which will already be depleted in numbers would be too small.

If ash wants out,why should we force him to stay?

i think all of this is untrue and im certain he will stay

whoever thinks coentrao is a good replacement for ashley cole clearly hasnt seen much of his club football,and also,BENZEMA????? this is the same striker that was dropped for the world cup and made just a handful of appearances for madrid after a 26m transfer!,No thanks Jose,you can keep him.

ASHLEY MUST STAY OR WERE IN TROUBLE AT LB-FACT