Ball now in Cole's court: PFA

ARSENE WENGER'S insistence he wants Ashley Cole to remain at Arsenal was last night welcomed by the Professional Footballers' Association.

An independent panel is set to hear Cole's appeal against his £100,000 fine for making an illegal approach to Chelsea after the Arsenal full-back was found to be in breach of Premier League Rule K5, which governs approaches by contracted players to clubs.

The Gunners, though, maintain they do not want Cole to leave Highbury, and are keen to extend the England international's current deal. The 24-year-old, however, clearly felt aggrieved by what he saw as a lack of support from Arsenal, particularly vice-chairman David Dein, over the whole episode which had originated from stalled contract talks.

Wenger now wants to draw a line under the issue, as he said: "We must make sure he's back with us, with full commitment and complete focus on success."

Deputy chief executive of the PFA, Mick McGuire, certainly believes such statements will help start to heal the rift between the player and his club.

"I certainly think now the ball is firmly in Ashley's court," McGuire said. "The difficulty is, though, he feels he has been let down by the club, and he has made that very clear."

Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are rumoured to be interested in the £20 million-rated defender, who declared he would not be interested in playing for another English team should he eventually leave Highbury, and recently admitted: "I can't help feeling it's all over."

Meanwhile, Wayne Rooney yesterday revealed his shock at charges the Football Association brought against agent Paul Stretford.

Following alleged breaches of the FIFA players' agents regulations and FA rules, Stretford faces a series of charges over when and how he won the right to represent Rooney in 2002.

At a court case in Warrington last October, Stretford was shown to have been representing the Manchester United and England striker in September 2002 - which allegedly overlapped with an agreement the player had with his former agent Peter McIntosh.

Rooney, 19, has since written to the FA to clarify the situation. He said through a statement released yesterday: "I have already informed the FA as to how I came to be represented by Paul Stretford and Proactive. I am surprised that the FA have charged Paul Stretford and Proactive Sports Management as I have already written to them explaining my decision to appoint Paul Stretford and Proactive. I was happy then and I still am."

Stretford now looks set to request a personal hearing to deny the charges, with a spokesman for Proactive adding: "The charges laid against Paul Stretford are entirely without foundation and he will be seeking a personal hearing in order to fully rebut them."