Arsene Wenger has admitted that he regrets selling Ashley Cole to Chelsea in 2006.
Boyhood Arsenal fan Cole came through the youth ranks at the club and went onto win four major honours (two FA Cups and two Premier League titles) under Wenger's tutelage. He was a big part of the famous Invincibles side of 2003/04, and looked destined for great things in north London.
However, a disagreement over a new contract in 2006 led to a breakdown in relationship between club and player. Then in one of the most controversial transfers in Premier League history, Cole switched north London for West London as William Gallas went the other way, along with a fee of £5million.
The Englishman went onto become one of the greatest full-backs of his generation, winning eight major honours with the Blues, including the UEFA Champions League in 2012. The way he left, as well as his future form, upset Arsenal fans for years, and Wenger has now revealed that he too was impacted by letting Cole go.
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Speaking on beIN Sports, via Goal, Wenger said: "I would say, most of the time the players gave us seven, eight, nine years and left after. The younger generation, like [Cesc] Fabregas, we lost early and would not have loved to lose him.
"The player who I think internally was a mistake to lose was Ashley Cole because he was playing at nine or 10 years old for the club. I knew that Fabregas, taking him away from Barcelona, at some stage he would want to go back to Barcelona, but Ashley Cole came out of the club and I think it was a misunderstanding for a few thousand pounds."
Wenger continued by explaining that Cole developed even more when he signed for Chelsea under Roman Abramovich's new regime at Stamford Bridge: "At the time, it was when [Roman] Abramovich came in to the game and Ashley Cole is one of the few players that developed even more and continued to develop when he left."
Although he's not the most popular figure at one London club - with some Arsenal fans even nicknaming him 'Cashley' for his endeavours - Cole ended up as a legend at Chelsea, and has previously admitted that he has no regrets about signing for the club.
"No. I had a great time there, I missed the old players that were there but I moved on and won every trophy I could," Cole said on ITV's Play to the Whistle, via the Mirror, in 2017. "I wouldn't look back and say I regretted it, no."
He added: "Maybe I done things in the wrong way. But when I look back at it now I think there were a lot of parties I could blame. But it's gone now and it's ten years down the line."
