Ashley Cole on the real reason he left Arsenal - and the injustice of the 'Cashley Cole' jibes

EX-England star Ashley Cole has spoken for the first time of the injustice of being labelled 'Cashley Cole' as the real reason he left Arsenal emerged. For almost 20 years, millions of fans believed the full back had stated that £55,000-a-week was 'not enough'. But a petty boardroom squabble was the real reason for his infamous departure from Arsenal in 2006, according to the man who wrote Cole's life story with the star. Cole, 44, and now a coach with England under 21s, revealed that cash was never an issue in his contract negotiations.

He said: "I would have signed for anything.

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"It might have been £60,00 a week that they offered me and I was delighted with that. "It was not incremental over five years and I did not care because I was living my dream. "But they reneged and I do not know why. The agent said it was 'take it or leave it'. "From the age of 17, I had never ever said: 'I want big money, it was 'give me the contract and I will sign it'. "I was not asking for crazy money. They were telling me every day 'you are the future of this club, you are the heart of this club and you are going to be the next Tony Adams. But then they said they did not value me.

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"They were my club, I loved that club, but I felt under appreciated and they took my love away." Fellow former England and Arsenal star Ian Wright said it was a 'matter of principle' as Cole opened up on the 'Stick to Football ' podcast with another former England star Gary Neville . Then manager Arsene Wenger pleaded with the board “not to risk losing a player of Ashley’s calibre.” The star was dubbed “Cashley Cole” after releasing his memoir, My Defence, in 2006.

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He was slammed for writing how he almost swerved on the road when he was told Arsenal were offering 'only 55k a week'.

Cole's biographer, former Mirror reporter Steve Dennis, who wrote 'My Defence' with the star, said: “David Dein shook hands with the agent on a £60,000-a-week, five year deal when Ash, based on the club's own valuation, could have asked for £110-120k.

"In fact, teammates implored him to take a better deal, to consider club wage structure. But for Ash, going from 25k to 60k a week was enough.

"As he says, big money didn't matter. Others thought he was mad, including own agent.

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"Enter Arsenal's boardroom politics. Peter Hill-Wood said Dein should not have acted without board approval and told him: 'Go back and offer 55k-a-week'. "Dein couldn't believe it. Neither could Wenger who stood up and said: "Are you seriously asking us to risk losing a player of Ashley's calibre for the sake of 5k-a-week?!" "They were his precise words, as recorded in the boardroom minutes. Peter Hill-Wood said that was the "best and final offer". "Dein was forced to present that U-turn to his agent. The agent calls Ashley. And that was when he said: 'Are they taking the p***?!"

"Because he had bent over backwards to be fair, to take a deal at 50% lower than what others would have demanded." "The media coverage ignored all the context making Ashley, one of the fairest guys in the game, a villain. It was a travesty of the truth that led to the "Cashley Cole" taunts." Cole, then married to his former wife the singer Cheryl Tweedy, moved to Stamford Bridge in September 2006 in a £5million swap deal with William Gallas, who went north to the Emirates. He stayed for eight years, winning four FA Cups, one Champions League , one Premier League and a Europa League .

He made 107 appearances for England over 13 years.

Cole retired from international football in 2014.