The 10 biggest betrayals in football!
Loyalty seems to be a dying concept in football these days, and we increasingly see instances of footballers forcing a transfer to a rival club. Sometimes, it is the bigger paycheck, and at other times it is the promise of winning more silverware - or a combination of both that can make a player push for a move.
Irrespective of the reason - from a fan's point of view, it still hurts. It hurts to watch a player you cheered on for years and loved, wear the kit of a rival club.
With just over a month left for the January transfer window to open - we take a look at 10 of the biggest betrayals in football.
# 1 - Ashley Cole
Widely considered the best Left-back of the Premier League era - Arsenal academy product Ashley Cole, made his senior debut for the club at the age of 18.
Winning universal plaudits for his performances on the pitch, Cole helped the Gunners win 2 Premier League titles and 3 FA Cups during his time at the club.
However, it all fell apart when Ashley was up for a renewal of his contract.
Arsenal was only willing to pay him 55 thousand pounds a week while London rivals Chelsea (who Arsenal accused of tapping up Cole) offered him 90 thousand pounds a week to make the move to South-West London.
In a later interview, Cole said that the new contract offered by Arsenal left him "seething with anger" - and that he almost drove off the road in shock when he first heard of it on his phone while he was behind the wheel.
An ugly transfer saga followed and finally on 31st August 2006, Arsenal agreed to a player plus cash swap deal (5 million and William Gallas) and let the English star go.
Arsenal fans made their anger known dubbing the player 'Cashley' and waving fake 20-pound currency notes with a picture of Ashley Cole on it when the two clubs met in December on the pitch.
Cole, however, had the last laugh as he went on to win four more FA Cups, another Premier League title, the Europa League, the League Cup and most importantly the UEFA Champions League - all while during the same duration of time the gunners went season after season unable to win silverware.