Ashley Cole admits to being “naïve and stupid”  when he left Arsenal

Ashley Cole started his career at Arsenal, however, left the club in 2006 after 228-first-team appearances for the Gunners. Cole has given rare insight into his infamous Arsenal departure and admitted he was naïve and stupid at the time. In 2006 book My Defence , he said: "When I heard Jonathan Barnett repeat the figure of £55K, I nearly swerved off the road. He (Arsenal Director David Dein) is taking the piss Jonathan! "I yelled down the phone. I was so incensed. I was trembling with anger. I couldn’t believe what I’d heard." Nearly 13 years later he opened up about his exit on Monday Night Football. "I was young, naive, stupid, but it was something I felt I had to do," Cole said. "The way I acted I was a little bit stubborn at the time. Maybe I should have sat down with a few more people at the time and gone through it with an ice-cool head. "I was a bit hot-headed and didn't realise what I was doing at the time but I don't regret it. When I look back now I think it was something that was maybe meant to happen." On the abuse from unhappy Arsenal fans who dubbed him Cashley, he added: "It's still there. It hurts me because it wasn't just my fault. I didn't leave for no reason. I didn't go to Arsene Wenger and say 'today I want to leave' - there was more to it. "It happens in football and I see it happen to a lot of other players. It's life. I moved on and they moved on, but I do feel sometimes a bit sad because it was my club and I played there since I was nine. To have that ill-feeling from the fans still is hard sometimes."

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