Cole in pledge to win back doubting Arsenal fans

ASHLEY Cole declared he would stay at Arsenal for at least another three years as he admitted he still has to win back the fans after his controversial talks with Chelsea.

Cole was fined £100,000 by a independent inquiry set up after a Premier League investigation into his illegal meeting with Jose Mourinho and Peter Kenyon last season.

The England full-back has nevertheless ended his contract dispute with Arsenal, having agreed a one-year extension to his deal which already had two years left to run.

And despite speculation that he may still depart next summer, Cole’s hoping that he has drawn a veil over months of controversy which followed January’s meeting at a London hotel.

“I’ve signed now so I’ll be here for another three years,” declared Cole.

“With everything that happened at the end of the season, I’m just glad it’s over now and I can focus on playing for Arsenal and, just as every player here wants to do, win things.”

Cole, 24, nevertheless admits that some fans will still be sceptical about his loyalty to the club.

“There were a lot of ingredients that made me want to stay and extend my contract - the manager, the other players and the fans,” he declared.

“Now hopefully people can believe that I wanted to sign. I’m here to try and win the fans over again, and do as well as I can.

“They probably want me to justify what happened. I’m just going to keep that quiet and try to win them over by playing as well as I can and by winning things.

“In a way, I was in a no-win situation. If I’d left, I would have got hammered.

“Now I’ve signed, I still hear some people saying that I’m just signing for the money and all that, which is not the case. I’ve signed because I want to play for Arsenal.”

Cole comes face to face with Chelsea in Sunday’s Community Shield clash in Cardiff, providing him with the perfect chance to show exactly where his loyalties lie.

Indeed, his declaration that Chelsea’s latest burst of transfer spending would only make winning the title back even sweeter is a good first step.

“It’s always an incentive when you see them buying all these great players. They can buy any player they want so it’s always nice to beat them,” he said.

“They won the title and all the players here want to prove that we’re the best team, so it’s fierce rivalry in that sense.”

Asked if he has any ill-feelings towards Chelsea, Cole added: “Of course people will ask about it, but I don’t hate anyone and my main focus is to play well and win things for Arsenal.

“Regardless of who we are playing, whether it’s Chelsea, Manchester United or West Brom, I’ll just be playing as well as I can and showing the fans that I’m 100% committed.”

Cole admits that Chelsea’s continued big spending has served to give Arsenal added incentive to overhaul the defending champions.

Arsenal’s 3-1 victory against Manchester United in last season’s corresponding fixture set them up for a strong start to the season, which only came to an end with their defeat at Old Trafford in October.

This time around, Cole believes that another success could also set up the Gunners, especially with a clash against Chelsea just two weeks later.

“It’s like when we play Manchester United, we just want to prove that we’re better than them. To beat Chelsea would be a big thing for the club,” he declared.

“It would give the players a lot of confidence going into the season, knowing that we can beat them. We know that we’ve got a good squad here and we’ll try to give it 100%.”