The 53-year-old hopes to team up the Girls Aloud star with Nicole Scherzinger, 34, on the judges' panel for the next series, reported Mirror online.
"Simon sees Cheryl and Nicole as the dream team. He believes those two women on the show would pull in viewers and make it so much more appealing than the current series," a source said.
"He knows Cheryl won't be cheap but more importantly he knows he needs to offer her the right role. She has resisted going back despite him offering Cheryl the UK X Factor after the US situation went wrong. He does not expect it to be easy but Simon likes a challenge," the source added.
If Cole, 29, came back it could leave Tulisa Contostavlos, 24, out of the 2013 series.
She could also replace head judge Gary Barlow, 41, who has made no secret of his unhappiness on the show.
Cole had a big fall out with Cowell after he sacked her from the US X Factor 18 months ago.
They have since made it up but Cowell has confessed to aides he anticipates it will be hard for him to get Cole to sign up for the 10th series of X Factor.