Mark Irwin in The Sun wrote: ‘Arsenal want William Gallas as part of Cole's move to Chelsea.'
And Matt Hughes in The Times writes: ‘After months of speculation over Cole's future, the clubs have finally entered into negotiations, with Arsenal turning down the opening offer but indicating that they would do business if the fee reached £25 million. Chelsea are confident of getting their man, though Arsenal cannot hope to get more than £20 million, even from a club of Chelsea's resources. But Arsenal run the risk of antagonising Cole even further.'
David Dein, Gunners vice-chairman, and manager Arsène Wenger have set out to prevent Cole from joining the club they accused of trying to tap up the England full back in the past.
However, an agreement between the player and Arsenal, that a £16 million bid would be enough for Arsenal to let the player leave, was only understood to have been verbal when it was made 12 months ago. And despite hints that Jose Mourinho would prefer to target Roberto Carlos this summer, the Chelsea boss has made his mind up on Cole, following their respective performances during the World Cup.