Ashley Cole has accused Arsenal of ”disrespecting” him in the wake of his controversial transfer to Chelsea.
The England international completed his switch to Stamford Bridge last week after the Premiership champions agreed to give Arsenal £5-million and their French defender William Gallas in exchange.
Cole’s departure had been anticipated ever since he was fined £75 000 for illegally meeting Chelsea officials in a London restaurant in January 2005.
He duly accused Arsenal of making him a scapegoat and his antipathy for his boyhood club deepened when they refused to grant him the £90 000-a-week pay deal he felt he deserved.
Cole eventually signed a new four-year contract but he told the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger before the World Cup that he wanted to leave. Now, despite securing his dream move to Stamford Bridge, his fury with his former employers has still not disipated.
”I thought I would be at Arsenal for the whole of my career so of course it hurt when I felt I wasn’t wanted,” Cole said.
”But it made me stronger and although Arsenal will always have a place in my heart, hopefully I can enjoy the same relationship with Chelsea.
”I think people probably view me as a greedy pig but I am genuinely not like that. It’s never been about money: it’s about respect and I feel that was owed to me by Arsenal. I gave everything for that club and I don’t feel Arsenal held me in as high regard as they should have done.
”But I’ll forgive them for that. What happened between me and them is in the past now. I meant what I said at the time but I don’t want to keep going back on old ground.”
Cole might not find that easy given his explosive autobiography is due to be published next week, together with its fierce criticisms of Arsenal and their vice-chairman David Dein, but in the meantime he insists he is excited by the prospect of linking up with his new Chelsea teammates in Saturday’s meeting with Charlton.
”It will be odd going into the home changing room at Stamford Bridge but it’s something I am looking forward to,” he added.
”Hopefully if I get to play, I can prove to the Chelsea fans that I am not here for the wrong reasons and that I want to do my best for the club.
”I’m going to get stick and it will be hard for me but I dealt with it last season and hopefully the whole experience will just make me stronger as a person. I have no other option but to deal with it.
”It has been hard, as an Arsenal player, to watch Chelsea come up and start winning everything. We had a taste of what it’s like to be a dominant side at Arsenal but Chelsea have been the top team for a couple of years now and I want to be part of their success.” – Sapa-AFP