Ashley Cole is in talks with Derby County with a view to joining the Championship club until the end of the season. The 38-year-old former England international is understood to be weighing up whether to sign a short-term deal for Derby in a move that would see him reunited with Frank Lampard, his former Chelsea team-mate, or whether to call time on a distinguished career.

Derby are hopeful that Cole, who is a free agent after leaving LA Galaxy in November, will agree to sign, with Lampard’s presence as manager a huge factor. Cole and Lampard were good friends during their playing days and have remained close. Lampard admitted a couple of months ago that signing Cole was a possibility and suggested that he would sound out the player.

Although Cole is in the twilight of his career and has spent the past three seasons in MLS, Lampard is convinced that the defender, who he has described as “the best left back of his generation”, would be capable of playing in the Championship. Those close to Cole say that the opportunity to play alongside a number of talented youngsters would be appealing to him, especially with Derby pushing for promotion under Lampard, and insist that finances will not play any part in whether he decides to move to Pride Park.

Lampard and Cole go back a long way, having spent eight years together at Chelsea, from 2006 to 2014, during which time they won the Premier League title, four FA Cups and the Champions League. Cole, who also won two Premier League titles with Arsenal, played for England 107 times. He left Chelsea in 2014 to sign for Roma, where he spent two seasons before joined LA Galaxy. – Guardian