Cole will be spending the whole season at Villa Park after spending the previous season with Charlton Athletic. He is expected to return to Stamford Bridge following his loan spells, a statement which is given more weight following the comments from Villa Chief Executive Bruce Langham this week.

A Villa statement said "We would be lying if we said we didn't want the option to buy him at the end of a year's loan. The fact of the matter is that we haven't. We are not getting the feeling from Chelsea that they are willing to sell him.

"During the summer there was a queue of teams waiting to sign him on loan. We have a good relationship with Chelsea - but we have had no indication from them at all that a deal of any sorts is on the table."