Former Chelsea star Ashley Cole has admitted that he did not expect Mohamed Salah to hit the heights in the Premier League after watching the attacker in close quarters during their time playing together. The ex-England international played alongside the attacker at both Chelsea and AS Roma and he is currently in the ranks of Championship side Derby County.

Speaking on Sky Sports, Cole acknowledged that he did not expect Salah to turn into a ruthless performer since his return to the Premier League, he said: “To be honest, no. I saw in training the ability that he had but he seems to have become more ruthless. I don’t mean selfish in a bad way but he wants to score goals. That’s his job. He needs to score goals. Him, [Roberto] Firmino and [Sadio] Mane all play well together but I think he’s become a little bit more “it’s about me now, it’s my time. He’s had enough of the other players being in the shadow and he wants to be the main man.”

Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino has said that he won’t come in the way of Harry Kane, should he want to play in the Nations League finals in the summer. The England international is currently sidelined with a significant ankle ligament damage and multiple reports have indicated that he could miss the rest of the season.

Despite this, the England captain has an outside chance of making a comeback before the Nations League finals and Pochettino has indicated that he would not object the marksman’s participation in the same, he said: “You know me very well, after six years and half years working in England my will is to help the national team, I'm never going to tell the player not to go to the national team.”

Liverpool defender Trent Alexander-Arnold has revealed that he has familiarised his style of play on England legend Ashley Cole. The 20-year-old made his debut for the Reds three years ago and he has since transformed into one of the Premier League’s best right-backs while racking nearly 50 appearances.

Speaking to Goal.com, Alexander-Arnold highlighted that he was a holding midfielder by trade coming through the academy but he has no concerns featuring on the right side of the defence. He added that he was fond of watching Cole, who was an attacking-minded left-back during his time at Chelsea and he has developed with the same kind of mindset.

Derby County manager Frank Lampard has expressed his delight for Ashley Cole after the veteran scoring his first-ever FA Cup goal during the Rams clash against Brighton & Hove Albion in the fifth round. The Championship side were down 2-0 heading into the final stages of the game where Cole offered the possibility of a comeback with a sublime headed goal.

However, that was eventually not sufficient to help the team to overcome the deficit but Lampard was still pleased with the effort shown from Cole at the twilight of his professional career, he said: "I am delighted for him. At 38 he could comfortably kick back already, but he has a real desire and humility and work ethic and I thought his performance was good and it will get better because of fitness. To be that high up the pitch and score with his head was a big surprise."

Former Arsenal and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole believes Andrew Robertson can be considered as the best left-back in the current Premier League campaign owing to his tireless workrate on both ends of the field. The Scotland international has only been with the Reds for the past 19 months but during this period, he has transformed into one of the most consistent defenders in the top-flight.

Speaking on Sky Sports News, Cole praised the qualities of the former Hull City defender and said that the Scotsman can be regarded as the most consistent performer from the left side of the backline, he said: “He’s been brilliant. I think he’s definitely been the best left-back in the Premier League this season. His work rate, how he gets up and down and with five assists already I think he’s only going to get better.”

Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy has handed a warning to West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice amid the potential prospect of switching his allegiance to England. The 19-year-old has spent his entire youth career with the Republic but he has yet to make a decision to commit to them for the long-term.

Speaking to reporters, McCarthy warned the youngster from choosing England over them, given manager Gareth Southgate has plans to play him at the heart of the defence rather than his preferred midfield position. He added that Rice would also struggle for gametime amid the competition from an extended pool and is optimistic that the teenager will choose them.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane has said that England have no one to fear after shining during the group phase of the newly-formed Nations League. The Three Lions recently reached the last four of the competition after getting the better of Spain and Croatia in their final two group stage games and Kane believes the country can now go on to lift silverware when the semi-final phase begins next year.

Speaking to Sky Sports News, he said: “You could say we’ve blown the shackles away. It’s been a long time since we reached the semi-final in a major tournament, we won a knockout game for the first time in a while, a penalty shoot-out as well [in Russia]. There were a lot of high-pressure situations where maybe in the past we wouldn’t have come through. But this team has and going on to the Nations League, beating Croatia and Spain, will only give us more belief and more experience. We have no reason to fear anyone now.”

Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri has come in the defence of Alvaro Morata amid the recent criticism on social media. The Spain international has been in decent touch for the Blues with six goals across all competitions but he has still managed to squander a number of straightforward chances with the latest being on international duty with Spain.

As such, there has been plenty of abuse focused at the former Real Madrid man but Sarri has come in the defence of his marksman saying: “Morata is a quality player, fast and technically gifted. He’s a sensible person and the difficulties had hurt him. The results and the quality of our football are positive. 18 games without a loss in such a competitive reality show that we’re on the right track.”

Chelsea vice-captain Cesar Azpilicueta has praised the qualities of Alvaro Morata with the Spaniard finding form over the past month. The 26-year-old joined the Blues from Real Madrid for around £60m last year and he was thereafter expected to take up the scoring mantle from compatriot Diego Costa, who parted ways with the club.

However, he could not make a notable impression barring for the opening few months and he ended the season with a tally of just 15 goals from 48 appearances. With the new season, things appeared to be taking the same trend with the Spaniard struggling to convert clear-cut chances but he has managed to turn the corner over the past month with five goals from the previous six matches.

LA Galaxy are hoping for an unlikely push to the play-off places and it may finally reward Ashley Cole with some joy after having joined the club a few years ago. The 37-year-old has been with Galaxy since 2016 but he has not been able to enjoy any success with the MLS outfit. Even though he has been one of the best defenders in the MLS over the last two years, the lack of success has been down to Galaxy going through a terrible period on and off the pitch.

Ashley Cole remains as one of the successful left backs in the history of the game after having won numerous honours with Chelsea and Arsenal. He has won the Premier League on three occasions with the two clubs while his biggest success came in the form of the FA Cup after winning at a record seven times with the two clubs. He has also won the Champions League and the Europa League on the European front. It is highly likely thatCole is in the last year of his MLS career and he may very well hang up his boots at the end of the campaign. Galaxy president Chris Klein recently claimed that Ashley Cole was incredibly motivated to join LA Galaxy that he even decided to take a massive pay cut to move from Roma.