Winners and Losers From The Ashley Cole Transfer

Filed in archive Premiership 2006/7 on September 1, 2006

After all the back and forth, the Ashley Cole to Chelsea thing has finally happened. I couldn't be happier to have this whole sorry thing done and dusted.

The deal is: Cole goes to Chelsea, William Gallas and around £5 million goes to Arsenal. Not good for Arsenal considering their £30 million Valuation, but better than having a unhappy left back and a shortage of central defenders.

Here's how I see the winners and losers from this ordeal -

Winners:

• Ashley Cole - got what he wanted
  


• William Gallas - better than a year in Chelsea's Reserves.
  


• Chelsea F.C. - if Gallas really was going to spend a year in the Reserves, and then leave on a free, his monetary value to Chelsea is zero (or worse, zero minus his wages). So in a way they've signed Ashley Cole for £5 million.
  


• Cheryl Tweedy - even more shopping money
  


• Player Power - both players got what they were after, because they know clubs will always want rid of unhappy players.
  


• Tapping Up - seems you can do it, get caught, and then still get what you want.
  

Losers:

• Arsenal - if you sell your best players when you don't want to, you look like a selling club.
  


• Wayne Bridge - deal went through too late for him to move on. Now he's going to get splinters.
  


• Chelsea's Defence - they'll miss Gallas, they should have promised him regular action in central defence. He's a better player than Carvalho or Boulahrouz.
  


• The FA - if you tap up a player, you shouldn't be able to sign him a year later.