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Football London
Football London
Sport
Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

What happened to ex-Arsenal star Ashley Cole on his first Emirates Stadium return in nine years

It was a case of former Arsenal teammates reunited during the post-match activities from the final day of the 2021/22 Premier League season win over Everton on Sunday afternoon.

Goals from Gabriel Martinelli, Eddie Nketiah, Cedric Soares, Gabriel Magalhaes and Martin Odegaard gave the Gunners an emphatic 5-1 victory and despite Norwich City losing 5-0 at home to Tottenham Hotspur - thus ending any hope of a top-four finish - there was still a positive atmosphere inside the Emirates Stadium at full-time.

And with Sunday's game being Arsenal's final home game of the season, the first-team players, as well as academy stars such as Zak Swanson, Charlie Patino and Salah-Eddine all, took part in a lap of appreciation around the stadium to thank those in attendance for their support over the past nine months.

READ MORE: Nicolas Pepe awful, Martin Odegaard stars, Bukayo Saka superb - Arsenal season player ratings

As expected, the Arsenal cameras captured everything and an 'Access all Areas' video that takes fans behind the scenes at the Emirates Stadium on the final day of the Premier League season against the Toffees was been uploaded to the club's official website on Tuesday afternoon.

Just before the players are about to remerge from the tunnel for the lap of appreciation, there was a nice moment between two former Gunners stars in Ashley Cole and Tony Adams - arguably the greatest captain in the club's history - as the pair were laughing and joking around perhaps reflecting on the glory years.

Cole has been part of the Everton backroom staff since Frank Lampard was appointed head coach in January so naturally, he was in the opposition dugout on Sunday but still had time for a quick catch-up with his former teammate before heading down the tunnel just as the Arsenal post-match activities were getting underway.

Considering Cole left Chelsea for AS Roma in the summer of 2014 and then enjoyed spells with Los Angeles and Derby County before retiring in 2019, that would most likely have been his first return to the Emirates in just under nine years having been an unused substitute for the Blues in a goalless draw with Arsenal in December 2013.

But to return and be reunited with the man, who according to Lee Dixon, helped mould him into the best left-back in the world during his days at Arsenal may have helped soften the blow of witnessing Everton losing so heavily in north London.

"Tony Adams coached Ashley Cole into becoming the best left-back in the world," Dixon revealed in 2018, as per the Irish Mirror. "It had nothing to do with the coaching from Arsene."

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