Ashley Cole has agreed to stay at Chelsea and is expected to sign a contract extension within the next two days.
The 32-year-old full-back is out of contract at the end of the season, and Rafael Benítez said soon after taking over in November as interim manager that he expected Cole, along with Frank Lampard, to leave the club in the summer.
Paris Saint-Germain, coached by the former Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti, and Real Madrid were thought be possible destinations for the England international. The news will go some way towards appeasing the Blues fans who had become unhappy with the club's failure to tie the player to a new deal and have been protesting against the appointment of Benítez. Lampard's likely departure has led to chants of "sign him up".
Despite coming towards the latter stages of his career, Cole is still regarded as one of the best left-backs in the world. The defender, who has 99 England caps, has been a fixture in the Chelsea back line since he joined the club in a controversial transfer from Arsenal – who visit Stamford Bridge today – in 2006.
It During his time at Chelsea, Cole has won one Premier League title, four FA Cups and one League Cup, and was also part of the team who defeated Bayern Munich in last year's Champions League final.remains to be seen whether the agreement with Cole will have any implication for Lampard's hopes of also remaining at the club.
Cole has won the Champions League, one Premier League title, four FA Cups and one League Cup while at Chelsea.