Chelsea's Ashley Cole a target for Real Madrid

Published: 04 Jul 2009 - 10:08:00

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Chelsea's Ashley Cole a target for Real Madrid

According to the Sun, Cole has rejected the club's latest contract offer, which would reportedly leave him £30,000 short of Chelsea top earners such as Frank Lampard and John Terry. The 28-year-old signed from Arsenal three years ago and has been an ever-present on the left side of defence no matter who the coach at the time was. Cole is understood to be keen to work under new manager Carlo Ancelotti but believes he should be earning more than his current £70,000-a-week salary and is seeking parity with his England colleagues at Chelsea. Real are monitoring the situation, with new coach Manuel Pelligrini desperate to strengthen his back line after president Florentino Perez splashed out nearly £200m on attacking talent. Meanwhile, Ancelotti has told Inter Milan coach Jose Mourinho that he can forget about signing striker Didier Drogba. The Ivory Coast international, 31, looked set to leave this time last year but discovered a new lease of life under previous interim coach Guus Hiddink. Ancelotti, who has replaced Hiddink in the Stamford Bridge hot seat, sees Drogba as an intrinsic part of his plans to wrestle the Premier League title away from Manchester United and as such has warned off Mourinho, who initially brought Drogba to Chelsea during his successful stint in charge. Ancelotti said: "Now I have Drogba in my team and he will be staying. I will not sell him to Mourinho."