Many Arsenal fans look back on losing Ashley Cole as one of the biggest losses in the club’s history and former chairman David Dein is of a similar opinion.
Cole moved on from the Gunners in a 2006 transfer that saw William Gallas go the other way as well as a nominal fee. At the time, many Arsenal fans labelled Cole greedy.
However, speaking about the actual scenario, David Dein has revealed it actually just came down to a small amount that the club refused to pay.
Arsenal fans…what was YOUR reaction the day you found out Ashley Cole was moving to Chelsea?
David Dein reveals why Ashley Cole really left Arsenal
Dein was speaking to Jake Humphrey on the latest episode of his High Performance podcast when he got onto the subject of Cole’s exit.
And revealing his regret, Dein confirmed he has apologised to Cole since.
“The fact that we lost Ashley Cole for a few thousand was crazy,” Dein revealed.
“And to this day, I regret that and I’ve apologised to him personally over that because it shouldn’t have happened. But we were so tight for money that everybody was cutting back.”
Of course, Cole went on to have huge success with Chelsea to follow up on his already fine career with Arsenal.
He went on to win four more FA Cups with the Blues as well as a Premier League title. Crucially for Cole’s legacy, he also enjoyed success in Europe, winning both the Champions League and Europa League before departing Stamford Bridge.
Looking back on Cole’s situation with Arsenal at the time, it does feel like a missed opportunity for the Gunners.
Nevertheless, football evolves and moves on and these comments from Dein are actually quite welcome, providing some clear context to Arsenal fans on why Cole did leave.
Emirates StadiumHopefully, this might draw a line under proceedings all these years later and who knows, we might well see Cole back at The Emirates one day.
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