Was Ashley Cole right to leave Arsenal for Chelsea?
Tell us in reader comments below For a deal that bore the odour of the farmyard from the start, Cole chose his metaphor well. Never in the history of human travel has the voyage of a full back from one London club to another generated so much angst or encapsulated so perfectly the mercenary spirit of the modern game. ‘I am genuine, want to win things, play for the club I’m at – and it’s never been about money,’ Cole went on. ‘For me it’s about respect. That’s what it comes down to. ‘I’ve moved across the water now,’ he continued, sounding like a holy spirit floating from Arsenal’s base in Hertfordshire to the Chelsea training ground in Surrey. A cockney phrase, of course, to denote the epic journey from north of the Thames to South: an expedition old-school Londoners undertake with a pith helmet and a map. If yesterday’s launch at Chelsea’s training ground was intended to give him the chance to have his say before joining Roman’s legions against Charlton today, England’s best left back
