There is certainly some food for thought for Chelsea fans here in the Football Transfer Tavern.

The Sunday Express claim that Ashley Cole is attracting some serious interest from Real Madrid.

As our landlord points out, not only is the new boss at the Bernabeu a former Chelsea manager who knows Cole well in Carlo Ancelotti but he is also rather unconvinced with both of the left backs he currently has at his disposal.

Fabio Coentrao has been linked with a move away since the departure of Jose Mourinho and has never been a board or media favourite.

Manchester United looked odds on to sign the player on deadline day, but then lost out at the death. Now a January move could be on the cards with the player wanting to make sure he is on that plane to Brazil next to Pepe and Cristiano Ronaldo come the summer of 2014.

Ancelotti also has Marcelo, yet in typical Brazilian style the defender is slightly better at going forward than actually defending at the back.

All of this has prompted Ancelotti to consider his former player Cole, who of course won a Premier League title under the Italian at Stamford Bridge.

Cole is free to talk to other clubs come the turn of the year and has most certainly been on the periphery of things at Stamford Bridge recently, surrendering his first team berth to Cesar Azpilicueta.