Ashley Cole’s experiment with Italian football seems to be good

Former Chelsea defender Ashley Cole’s experiment with Italian football seems to be coming to a premature end after being left out of the Roma first-team squad for the opening game of the campaign.

The Italian Serie A resumes this weekend with Roma taking on Hellas Verona, but Cole will not be part of the team named by Rudi Garcia as he has been left out of the squad entirely. Garcia has explained that the decision to leave out the former England international is something that was taken by the club and that it was not a personal decision.

Since the 34-year-old has only 12 months left on his contract, Roma may consider the possibility of letting him live on a free transfer. The club stand to lose almost nothing since they signed him on a similar agreement from Chelsea. There have been very few English players who have been successful while playing abroad and the case of Cole once again reiterates the same. A serial winner of trophies with Arsenal and Chelsea, Cole has lifted the likes of Champions League and Premier League medals in his stellar career. It is reported that he is targeting a final few years of football in the MLS.

"Cole won't be in the squad. That's a decision we've made as a club," Garcia said.“We’ll only know come the end of the season whether we’ve closed the gap or not. What I will say is the club have done some fine work to improve. Some great players have signed but obviously the window is not closed yet. We still have lofty ambitions. My approach hasn’t changed and I came to Roma to win trophies. We’ll give it everything. Our main aim is the same as the previous two campaigns. We want to qualify for the Champions League,” continued the manager.