Arsene Wenger Drops Cole for European Qualifier

Ashley Cole may suffer a lot from the latest transfer saga with Chelsea. After more than 3 weeks of continuous talks, the two London clubs failed to reach an agreement for his move to Stanford Bridge. And that didn't only endanger the player's transfer to Chelsea, but also his playing for Arsenal.

Arsene Wenger is still refusing to use Cole in Arsenal's Premiership & Champions League matches. And the reason is obvious. The player is still confused about his future and his performances on the pitch could be influenced by that. More, in case Cole does leave the club, Wenger needs to prepare his replacement.

After leaving Ashley out of the squad for both Dinamo Zagreb and Aston Villa clashes, Wenger is determined not to pick the English defender in the Champions Leagues second leg qualifier either. Arsenal will play the Croatia champions this week, after winning the away leg 2 weeks ago, 3-0.

"As long as the case is not definitely closed I will not play him. It doesn't concern me too much. If nothing happens by the end of next week it's over. But I'm very skeptical it will happen now", stated Wenger.

In the meantime, his move to Chelsea could take a blow, after Jose Mourinho just signed Dutch defender Khalid Boulahrouz. The Portuguese coach warned Arsenal, a couple of weeks ago, that he will transfer another defender in case the Cole transfer doesn't speed up.

Cole is still waiting for Arsenal and Chelsea to reach a common point in the transfer fee. According to the media reports, Chelsea is willing to pay 28 million euros for the defender.