Chelsea icon Ashley Cole has revealed that his marriage ultimately stopped him from making a move to Real Madrid.
The former England defender completed a switch to Stamford Bridge in September 2006 as part of a £5 million exchange involving William Gallas, who headed to Arsenal.
In a conversation on Stick to Football this week, Cole explained that everything about his transfer plans shifted once he got married.
“I felt a bit underappreciated and undervalued. So that’s where my head and heart was at. I was like, ‘You’ve taken my love away’ and it didn’t need to be like that.
He noted that he had been close to agreeing a move abroad. “From what I was told and heard, I was going to Real Madrid. I was having conversations with agents because at that point I could pre-sign for a team abroad. So, it was Madrid and kind of Barcelona. I don’t know how deep it was.” But his personal life altered the direction of his career.
“Things changed, I got married, and didn’t actually want to leave the country in the end. Then, around a year and a half later, I remember sitting in my box with my agent and him calling me outside and going, ‘You’re never going to believe who this is, it’s Chelsea.’ So I was like, okay!”
Cole went on to claim the Premier League title, four FA Cups, as well as the Champions League and Europa League across eight years and 337 appearances—achievements that ensured he had no regrets about the move.
