Cole could be sold admits Wenger

England defender Ashley Cole is seen against Paraguay in their first round Group B 2006 World Cup match at Frankfurt's World Cup Stadium in June 2006. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has implied for the first time that Cole could be sold this summer.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has implied for the first time that England left back Ashley Cole could be sold this summer.

Arsenal insist they have yet to receive a bid from Chelsea but the Gunners would, according to reports, seek a fee of up to 25 million pounds (36.6 million euros) if the Blues did make an approach for the 25-year-old player.

Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has stated his intention to sign a new left-sided defender, following Asier del Horno's return to Spain after a difficult year at Stamford Bridge.

With Del Horno moving to Valencia, Chelsea have England international Wayne Bridge as their only recognised senior left-back, however central defender William Gallas is also capable of performing the role.

Wenger accepted Cole could leave before Arsenal begin their first league campaign at the Emirates Stadium, but stressed there had been no movement yet on Chelsea's part.

"There is nothing going on with Ashley at the moment," said Wenger, after Arsenal's 2-1 friendly win at SV Mattersberg in Austria last night. "There is no offer and we are not talking to anybody about him.

"I am always confident of holding on to a player, but if you want me to sit here and guarantee he will be an Arsenal player next season I cannot do it.

"He only has two years left on his contract and we have not made any movement in that regard and when you have a player in that situation you cannot say much."

Chelsea have also offloaded Damien Duff, another left-sided player to Newcastle, but they have so far refused to comment on speculation linking them with Cole.

Boss Jose Mourinho stated last week: "Ashley Cole is an Arsenal player. It's not correct to say anything about him."

But he stressed that, with Del Horno leaving: "The transfer window is open and for sure we'll have two left-backs."