Lampard goes digging for Cole

ASHLEY COLE is weighing up an offer from Frank Lampard to make a remarkable return to English football at Derby.

Lampard has offered his old Chelsea team-mate Cole, now 38 and a free agent after being released by LA Galaxy in October, a contract at Pride Park until the end of the season with the possibility of a coaching role in the future.

A source close to Cole told Express Sport last night: “Ashley has had a talk with Frank. He has been offered a role and he is thinking about it.

“Ashley has had other offers but he is good friends with Frank and is interested.”

Cole has three Premier League titles under his belt, has also won the Champions League and the Europa League, plus seven FA Cups.

The former Arsenal defender, who joined Roma when he left Chelsea in 2014, had been at Galaxy for three seasons. Lampard’s promising young side are sixth in the Championship, and on Wednesday knocked Southampton out of the FA Cup after a penalty shoot-out at St Mary’s.

Cole is understood to want to return to English football for one last stint before making any decisions about retiring from the game.

He is believed to have several lucrative playing offers from abroad, but Derby are confident of clinching the deal in the next 48 hours. Lampard said: “I’m sure Ashley could do a job at Championship level.

“He is 38, the best left-back of his generation, or actually many generations if you are talking about those in an England shirt.

“So it’s certainly something that is high on my mind and I know Ashley so well that it would be an easy conversation for me to have.”