Quitting Chelsea for Real Madrid will help England defender Ashley Cole escape the ongoing backlash from his private life believes Real Madrid's Argentine superstar Gonzalo Higuain.
Cole has struggled to keep a low profile since his highly publicised split from pop star wife Cheryl Tweedy and his public image hit an all-time low when he declared that he hated the people of England after the nation's World Cup disaster.
Higuain has now urged Cole to catch the Madrid lifeline being thrown to him by former Blues boss Jose Mourinho.
"At Madrid, Cole's football will make all the headlines, not his private life. I think that will be a big incentive for him. I have spoken with a couple of senior players who the club confide in and they are very confident that we will sign him in the next few weeks," The Sun quoted Higuain, as saying.
"Once players have played for Jose Mourinho, they seem to want to follow him. Jose is very much like Argentina coach Diego Maradona in the sense that he will lay down his life for his players.
"It's everybody inside the club versus the rest of the world and that protection which the coach offers is a real incentive. Ashley will know all about Jose's passion and love for his players and I am sure he is keen to link up with him again," Higuain said.
It was Mourinho who, in 2006, controversially lured Cole to Chelsea from Arsenal and striker Higuain is convinced that history is about to repeat itself at Madrid.