Ashley Cole has finally made headlines for all the right reasons. The Chelsea FC defender made seven-year-old Bailey McColgan's day by giving his Community Shield runners-up medal to the Manchester City fan, according to the Manchester Evening News.
Cole and his Chelsea teammates were unable to preserve an early lead and fell to reigning Premier League champion Manchester City in the curtain-raising Community Shield.
Following the tough defeat, Cole was gracious enough to give the young fan — a huge City fan at that — his silver runner-up medal.
"I just held out my hand and he gave it to me," McColgan said. "It made me feel really happy. I think he must be a nice person because he gave me his medal.
"I've shown the medal to everyone. They all said it was very heavy and that they like the look of it. It's made me feel super," the seven-year-old concluded.
Like Charlie getting his golden ticket, McColgan hasn't let the medal out of his sight and even rejected a £500 offer for his prized possession.
"Apparently these medals would go for quite a lot of money but Bailey said he wouldn't sell it for a million pounds," said McColgan's mother, Karla Barlow.
Cole has also made a believer out of the youngster's father, James McColgan.
"The look on Bailey's face was unbelievable. A lot of stuff gets said about Ashley Cole, but this speaks volumes for him. It paints football in a different light," said the elder McColgan.
Cole, 31, has been a divisive figure in English football since his transfer from Arsenal to Chelsea in 2006.
Arsenal fans branded the England international "Cashley" Cole in reference to the cross-London switch that saw Cole earn a massive pay raise from Chelsea sugar daddy Roman Abramovich.
For his part, Cole has never missed a chance to rub his impressive Blues' trophy-haul in Gooners' faces.
Never out of the headlines for long, the left back was the subject of transfer speculation earlier this summer.
Reports claimed former boss Carlo Ancelotti wanted to bring Cole (who only has one year left on his contract) to heavy-hitting Paris Saint-Germain for a final massive payday. Cole has since rejected the rumors and looks set to play a part in Chelsea's defense of its UEFA Champions League title.
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