Cole absence increases talk of Roma exit

The French coach has not called on the left-back for his side's Serie A opener at Hellas Verona, casting the Englishman's future in further doubt

Ashley Cole appears destined to leave Roma after head coach Rudi Garcia confirmed the full-back will
not play in Sunday's Serie A opener at Hellas Verona.

Former England defender Cole moved to Stadio Olimpico ahead of the 2014-15 campaign, but struggled to make an impact and featured in just 11 league matches.

Reports earlier this week suggested that the ex-Chelsea star's contract could be terminated and it appears increasingly likely the 34-year-old will depart.

"Cole won't be in the squad," Garcia said. "That's a decision we've made as a club."

Roma have invested in their squad over the summer transfer window, with the likes of Edin Dzeko, Antonio Rudiger, Mohamed Salah and Wojciech Szczesny coming in.

However, Garcia has admitted that he is not sure if they have closed the gap in quality between themselves and Juventus heading into the new season and says Champions League qualification is a higher priority for his side than winning the Serie A.

“We’ll only know come the end of the season whether we’ve closed the gap or not," he added. "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.

“Last term we had a series of issues in the second half of the season, but in winning the derby we showed that positives can come out difficult situations and we qualified for the Champions League."

Garcia was also full of praise for club icon and captain Francesco Totti, who he feels can still add a lot to the team.

“We’re very lucky to have the captain and I don’t need to talk about what a great man he is on and off the pitch. He showed once again in Valencia how important he is for the team.

"He'll turn 39 soon and he can’t play every game without losing a bit of sharpness. There’s no issue there for me. The captain will have a big role to play both on and off the pitch.” [GOAL]