Ashley Cole will attempt to exonerate himself through the courts if he is found guilty by the Premier League commission investigating allegations of an illicit approach from Chelsea for the Arsenal left-back. A verdict is due today.
Cole's legal advisers insist that, though a meeting did take place between Chelsea and the Arsenal player and his agent at the Royal Park Hotel in January, their actions were not improper.
Indeed, the England international is prepared to challenge the Premier League rule K5 preventing contracted players from contacting other clubs with a view to exploring alternative employment opportunities on the grounds it denies players a basic human right.
Though Cole's position puts him in conflict with his own club, which insists the rule must be maintained, it is within the power of the three-man commission, headed by the former law lord Sir Phillip Otton, to concede Cole is correct and that he should be permitted to make such approaches. Nevertheless, that would not prevent Otton and his panel handing down a guilty verdict to Cole on the basis that he broke the rules as they stood.
Chelsea will read the language of Otton's verdict very closely before considering their next move. Should the commission declare the Premiership champions, their manager Jose Mourinho and their chief executive Peter Kenyon were illicitly complicit in meeting Cole and his agent Jonathan Barnett four months ago, a fine would be the most likely sentence.
Chelsea would not object to a monetary punishment, provided the panel sustains their defence the initial approach had been Cole's, a tenet they have maintained since charges were brought in March.
The findings of the Premier League's semi-independent commission will further dictate how the Football Association proceeds with its investigations of the conduct of the agent, Barnett. If it is felt by the commission Barnett is guilty of any wrongdoing in the affair, charges may ensue from Soho Square.
In the event Otton and his colleagues David Dent and Malcolm George should consider the Israeli agent Pini Zahavi, through whom the meeting with Chelsea was allegedly arranged, to have been guilty of any form of malfeasance, the matter will be referred by the FA to Fifa. The FA has no jurisdiction over Zahavi since he is registered with the country of his birth.
Maenwhile, Arsenal yesterday confirmed Edu has signed a five-year contract with Valencia. "The Brazilian said his farewells at the end of last season, after his contract came to an end," the London club said.
Middlesbrough are poised to cut their losses and accept a £2 million bid for Massimo Maccarone from Siena. The Italian striker, who cost a club-record £8.5 million when he joined Boro from Empoli three years ago, has struggled to adapt to Premiership football and life in England.