Gunners want quick resolution of Cole affair
Arsenal are confident the disciplinary hearing into the alleged illegal approach by Chelsea for Ashley Cole will not undermine their efforts to keep the England defender.
Cole, Blues boss Jose Mourinho and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon have all been charged by the Premier League with breaching rules about approaching players and clubs.
There have been suggestions that, because Arsenal made the complaint about the approach, their efforts to persuade Cole to sign a new contract have been badly damaged.
However, it is understood the club believe the three-man independent disciplinary panel – due to be appointed by the Premier League within the next two weeks – will find Cole to be the least culpable party in the whole affair.
The view at Highbury is that Cole was unwise to go along to the meeting in a London hotel with his agent Jonathan Barnett, Kenyon, Mourinho and Chelsea’s ‘fixer’ Pini Zahavi – but that he was not the instigator, and nor is there any feeling of blame by the Arsenal hierarchy towards the player.
Arsenal’s chairman Peter Hill-Wood has added further weight to that viewpoint by saying he hopes the hearing is settled quickly “for Ashley Cole’s sake as well as Arsenal’s sake”.
Chelsea, Cole and Barnett have all confirmed to the inquiry that a meeting took place – although they dispute which party made the initial approach.
They have 14 days to respond to the charges, and Hill-Wood called for a swift end to the affair.
Hill-Wood told the Evening Standard: “We only want players who want to play for us.
“I would just hope that it will all be sorted out sooner rather than later. Those charged have 14 days in which to respond, and I hope the decision will come soon after that.
“For Ashley Cole’s sake as well as Arsenal’s sake I want that to be the case.”
