September 14th 2023.
Legendary Gunners manager Arsene Wenger has opened up about one of his biggest mistakes during his spell at Arsenal: letting Ashley Cole leave in 2006.
The Frenchman spent 22 years in charge of the North Londoners from 1996 to 2018, delivering three Premier League titles and seven FA Cup trophies.
Cole left Arsenal to join Chelsea and established himself as one of the best left-backs in world football. He was part of the Blues team that won the Champions League among other titles.
Wenger has now reflected on his decision to let Cole leave, describing it as the ‘regret of his life’.
“I would say of the players who left Arsenal who had a very big career after Arsenal is Ashley Cole,” Wenger said on the Seaman Says podcast. “He was the only one who moved on and fulfilled his career and it was a regret of my life. Recently we had a meeting, I was glad he was in the meeting, because he had a bad feeling and I had a regret that he left the club at the time.”
The Frenchman also revealed that the Gunners were ‘close’ to signing Cristiano Ronaldo and N’Golo Kante during his tenure. Portuguese superstar Ronaldo had two spells at Manchester United while Kante went to Chelsea after winning the Premier League with Leicester City.
“I missed many great players, we missed Ronaldo, he was close to signing for us, Kante… you miss many but it’s part of every football club,” Wenger added.
It is clear that Wenger regrets his decision to let Ashley Cole leave Arsenal in 2006 and is still disappointed that he was unable to sign stars like Ronaldo and Kante during his tenure. However, his 22 years at Arsenal were filled with success and Wenger will always be remembered as a legendary manager of the Gunners.
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