With Ashley Cole entering his final year of contract, Arsenal made sure that they are not going to lose - financially speaking - either he decides to stay or not. As it seems right now, the latter is closer to the truth, since the English midfielder has been linked with a move to rivals Chelsea for some time now. And, even if Arsene Wenger still hopes to retain the defender for another season, his exit is more certain as hours go by.

Actually, all Chelsea needed was the player's approval. Arsenal would not afford losing the defender for free after this season, while Chelsea is willing to pay up to 25 million euros for Cole. It's a win-win situation for everybody - except Arsene Wenger, who will miss Cole in the starting line-up. Still, Cole's approval was decisive.

And, according to the English tabloids, Cole already notified his club officials about his desire to leave for Stanford Bridge. He had a talk with Vice-chairman David Dein before going into training this week, and told him that he no longer sees his future along with the gunners. And Arsenal will have no choice but to start discussing Chelsea the transfer sum.

Of course, Arsene Wenger is still not fully convinced that his defender wants to leave the club. Even if admitting that he might not be training Cole for one more season, the Frenchman did not show much enthusiasm when Cole reportedly said good-bye to his teammates at the end of yesterday's practice.

"If Ashley is going to be sold, he will be informed, and if he is staying he will be informed about that as well. He is still under contract and no one else will decide what he does. He was only at the training ground for an hour because he told somebody he was sick. From what I understand he is not well. I am out in Austria so he did not say that to me", said Wenger.