On his way to Madrid? No. Well, maybe?
I have ignored it. Shunned it. Pushed it to the proverbial side.
I'm not so sure I can do so anymore.
The Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas has wasted little time moving on from lifting the World Cup. To where has he moved on? Talking about potential teammates at the Santiago Bernabeu - obviously.
"From what I am hearing the signs look good," the Spanish national team captain is quoted as saying in the Sun, referring to Madrid signing our world-class defender.
"I have only briefly spoken to people at the club but I am confident he can be a Real Madrid player next year. I think it will be the right move for him both professionally and personally. A clean break from England is hopefully something he is very interested in. It will be his last big contract and who better to sign for than his old coach Mourinho at Real.
"He will know better than anybody this club will be successful under Jose. Jose has proved he buys players and makes them the very best in the world in their position. With Ashley he doesn't need to do that because he's already the best left-back in the world. Jose knows all about him and it comes as no surprise to me he is very much on Madrid's radar."
Reuniting in the coming month?
Rumors of Ashley Cole moving to Madrid have been circulating since the summer of 2009. They surfaced again just weeks after last season closed, and haven't disappeared since. In fact, the heat rose once Mourinho traded Milan for the Spanish capital. It's well known Jose is a massive admirer of the world's finest left fullback.
None of that really concerned me. I mean, Cole has been successful at Chelsea; Chelsea has been successful with Cole. It has been a mutually beneficial situation for both parties.
Then the shiteth hiteth thy fan, so to speak. Not that Cole wasn't in the news prior to 2009 - but one cannot deny the level of absurdity reached in the aftermath of his separation from the famous wifey. Cue the nonsense. The malicious attacks. Oh, and the lies (well, mostly).
Speak of the devil. This piece just popped up on the Sun website. It's exactly what I'm talking about with regard to Ashley.
'Ashley is disruptive, easily distracted, foul-mouthed, and achieved 0 percent'
What a headline, eh? What a story.
Now I'm not saying Cole hasn't brought much of this on himself. But to say he's deserving of such a level of degradation is ridiculous. It all came to a head about a month ago when the fullback admitted he "hates" England, and it's "f****** people." Not the best decision to let that one go, Ashley - even if I see where you're coming from.
Even that didn't convince me he would actually leave Stamford Bridge, however. Now, I'm not so sure.
What are your thoughts? Regardless, I think we all can agree that this is not a good look for our club - and it's future success.