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Arsenal: 7 former players who ruined their legacy
By Jocelyn Taub
Ashley Cole earns the nickname Ca$hley Cole
Ashley Cole came up through the Arsenal academy before making his first-team debut in 1999, going on to make 228 appearances for the club. In addition, he also became a mainstay in the England squad where he was capped 107 times.
Cole was a part of an Arsenal side that won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups. He was also a famed member of the 2003/2004 Invincibles.
The event that changed everything and would turn Cole from a hero to a zero took place in June 2005. While under contract with the Gunners, Cole was involved in a tampering scandal involving those from the west. Cole, his agent Jonathan Barnett, then manager José Mourinho, and chief executive Peter Kenyon secretly met at a London hotel to negotiate a contract for Cole. The only problem was that Cole was under contract with Arsenal.
When word got out, Cole was found guilty of breach of Premier League rules and he was fined £100,000. Chelsea and the others present at the meeting were also fined for the infraction.
A year later Cole released his autobiography in which he expressed anger towards the Arsenal board who he felt had treated him unfairly for his involvement in the tapping up saga. When Arsenal’s team photo was released for the 2006/2007 season, Cole was deliberately left out.
Negotiations between Arsenal and Chelsea were ongoing during the summer of 2006 for the defender’s signature with Cole eventually signed for Chelsea at the tail end of the transfer window for a fee of £5m. The deal also included Chelsea defender William Gallas going in the other direction to join the Gunners.
As it turned out, Arsenal had offered Cole a longer contract to stay at the club, but he felt slighted by the offer of £55,000 per week. In his autobiography, Cole stated, “I was trembling with anger. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard.”
Arsenal fans felt betrayed and the nickname Ca$hley Cole was born.
He went on to have success while at Chelsea but to the Arsenal faithful he will forever be an ungrateful villain guilty of disloyalty and greed.