Former Arsenal star Ashley Cole has fallen out at the club over his treatment before joining Premier League rivals Chelsea in 2006.
Cole infamously swapped the Emirates Stadium for Stamford Bridge after a high-profile dispute with the club’s ownership over contract talks.
The ex-England international memorably commented that he ‘almost crashed his car in fright’ after being told of Arsenal’s plan to offer him £55,000 ($68,000) a week.
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After weeks of talks, Cole eventually arranged to leave his boyhood club as part of a swap deal that saw William Gallas go in the opposite direction.
The saga caused bitterness among Arsenal fans towards Cole, with Gunners fans calling him ‘Cashley’ amid rumors that his financial demands were blocking extension talks.
Cole has consistently denied that he was unreasonable in his salary requests and the former defender told the Peter Crouch podcast he was misled by Arsenal about what they would pay him.
“My situation was that I knew what I was worth. If you don’t want to pay it, no problem. But we agreed. Everything was agreed and they pulled the rug out from under me. They broke their promise – I I can’t tell you why,” he said.
“It was difficult to leave. People don’t understand the pressure I was under to leave or stay.
“At the end of the day I felt disrespected, that’s my position. Sometimes I talk to fans (and they say), ‘You left, you hurt me,’ I’m like, ‘Wait a minute.’ People don’t realize that I got hurt the most it was my boyhood club, I was living the dream but I was let down.
“It wasn’t that I felt like I wasn’t being taken care of because I was a young player. I wasn’t asking for (Thierry) Henry’s or (Patrick) Vieira’s wages). I didn’t want that. I just wanted knew my worth and they broke their promise.”
Cole has returned to his role with England Under-21s alongside former interim senior team boss Lee Carsley at the start of 2025, with Thomas Tuchel taking charge of the Three Lions this month.