Despite their bitter rivalry, Chelsea and Arsenal have shared a fair few players over the years, but Arsene Wenger passed up on one who could have been a star at the Emirates.
Chelsea and Arsenal seem to be eternally after the same players.
Some notable names that donned red and blue in their Premier League careers are Ashley Cole, Petr Cech, Cesc Fabregas, Emmanuel Petit and Olivier Giroud — and most recently, Noni Madueke.
But back in 2003, Wenger had the chance to snap up a world-class talent before he ever came through the doors at Stamford Bridge, and it’s a missed opportunity that the Frenchman surely regrets to this day.
Joe Cole playing in the Champions League for Chelsea
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Arsene Wenger passed up on Joe Cole before Chelsea move
Joe Cole was at another London club, West Ham, back in 2003.
The Hammers were in a difficult spot financially, and Cole was sold in order to balance the books. Chelsea signed him for just £6.6 million, but apparently not before he was offered to the Gunners.
As Cole recalls on Mo Gilligan’s Beginning, Middle & End podcast: “You know the club needed to sell. They sold me and Glen Johnson initially, and then later on Defoe and Carrick, it was a book-balancing situation.
“So I needed to go. And there were options. Manchester United were talking to my agent. Arsenal. Arsene Wenger had first refusal on me and Michael Carrick.”
And refuse he did.
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Arsenal surely regretted turning Joe Cole down
If you look at it through a short-term lens, Wenger’s decision to turn Cole down didn’t matter much. Arsenal would go invincible that very season, with no gaps in their squad to speak of.
But in the long-term, not signing Cole for such a small fee will have stung.
Since that famous title win, Arsenal have not returned to the pinnacle of English football. They would pick up just one FA Cup during the rest of the 2000s, while Chelsea — with the help of Cole — dominated domestically.
Cole never wanted to leave Chelsea, and must be delighted at the snub from Wenger in hindsight.
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Cole was just 21 at the time and could have easily become Arsenal’s talisman when their ‘Invincibles’ aged out of the side. But instead, two decades later, the Gunners are yet to reclaim the Premier League title.