Farewell Ashley, you loved us and we loved you back

It’s funny how things change, isn’t it? Ashley Cole was initially one of our most unpopular signings ever when he arrived from the Marble Halls of Mordor as part of the William Gallas deal in 2008.

Being an integral part of a (successful) Arsenal team was always going to be a hurdle to overcome in itself, but he was also replacing the then very popular Wayne Bridge and, to add insult to injury, we were losing one half of our central defensive powerhouse pairing — and for what?

A player who one of our direct rivals had obviously had the best out of and was now happy to discard.