Arsene Wenger, the former Arsenal manager, has admitted that selling Ashley Cole to Chelsea was a mistake, meaning that the club could have done more to keep him.
Cole was a key member of Wenger's unbeaten Premier League-winning 'Invincibles' club in 2003-04. In six seasons, he helped the Gunners win two league titles, three FA Cups, and four Community Shields, making him one of their most decorated players.
Unfortunately, the player and the club were unable to reach an agreement on a contract extension, resulting in his transfer to Chelsea in 2006. Looking back, Wenger has conceded that he lost one of his finest players due to a little monetary "misunderstanding."
‘’Well, I would say personally, most of the time, the players gave us seven, eight, nine years and then left after," Wenger told beIN Sports (via Metro). We lost the younger generation early, such as [Cesc] Fabregas, and we would not have wanted to lose him. Ashley Cole was the player I believe we made a mistake by losing internally. He was playing for the club when he was nine or ten years old. I understood that bringing Fabregas away from Barcelona would make him want to return at some point. Ashley Cole, on the other hand, left the club. I believe there was a miscommunication over a few thousand pounds. "We talked about [Roman] Abramovich when he first came into the game, and Ashley Cole is one of the few players who improved even more after he departed."
The former England international was dissatisfied with the contract extension offered by Arsenal and began hunting for a new club. He had an unannounced meeting with then-Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho in 2005, which resulted in fines for all parties involved.
Cole finally joined the Blues for €7.4 million, with Willam Gallas going the other way, to bring the storey to a close. Cole won the Premier League, the Champions League, the Europa League, and four FA Cups during his eight years at Stamford Bridge.
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