ASHLEY COLE has revealed he left Arsenal just two years after the amazing Invincibles season – because he did not think they were serial winners anymore.
England left-back Cole quit to join London rivals Chelsea in 2006 – and says the culture was “falling apart” on the red side of London.
But the 39-year-old has strongly denied it was about the money – despite at the time infamously saying he nearly crashed his car when the Gunners ONLY offered him £55,000-a-week to renew his contract.
However, Cole’s move proved the right one looking back.
He won the Champions League – a trophy that has eluded Arsenal throughout their history – plus four Premier League titles, the Europa League, four FA Cups and the League Cup during his eight years at Stamford Bridge.
Cole, who went on to play for Roma, LA Galaxy and Derby County, would have won just one FA Cup had he stayed at The Emirates.
Arguably the greatest Premier League left-back of all-time, Cole told the BBC: “The transition in terms of being in a different group, environment and players was easy because, at the time when I first started at Arsenal, we had a core – the Keowns, the Seamans, the Vieiras, the Henrys, the Adams’.
“When they started to leave, I felt there were holes in the culture of what it was that brought success. I just felt it was falling apart a bit, or there were gaps missing, and they weren’t filled.
“So that transition in terms of finding myself in a different culture and the willingness and want to win, I went to Chelsea, and I had that.”
But Gunners fans will never forgive the defender, now retired, for the move.
Cole was pictured in January 2005 meeting Mourinho and chief executive Peter Kenyon at the London’s Royal Park Hotel in Lancaster Gate – while still under contract at Arsenal.
He eventually joined the Blues a year later for £5million, with defender William Gallas moving the other way.
The man who married pop star Cheryl Tweedy in a glitzy wedding where they sat on golden thrones was asked if he could have handled the move with more dignity.
He said: “One hundred per cent, it’s not just entirely my fault, and it’s not entirely their fault.
“I was probably a little bit too stubborn at the time and felt a little bit hard done by.
“I was a little bit babyish, to be honest, but it’s something I won’t ever regret, and I wouldn’t ever change that situation.
“It’s just something that happened. Maybe it was meant to be, who knows?
“But I definitely feel unjust about it because it wasn’t what people think in terms of money.
“It’s crazy, but that was probably the last thing on my mind.”
