Cole admits 'it's all over' at Arsenal
Ashley Cole's position at Arsenal now looks to be untenable, according to his solicitor.
The England left-back, 24, is aggrieved by what he sees as a lack of support from his club, and in particular vice-chairman David Dein over the way negotiations surrounding an improved contract were stalled.
Cole was fined £100,000 by the Premier League for making an illegal approach to Chelsea over a possible transfer, an inquiry instigated by the Gunners.
Arsenal were £5,000 short on Cole's wage demands of £60,000 a week to sign a new deal, but Cole insists his grievance is not now about money but a matter of 'decency and the principle of treating people fairly' and admitted: 'I can't help feeling it's all over.'
Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona are both rumoured to be interested in the £20million-rated defender, who maintains he would not play for another English club, having come through the youth ranks at Highbury and would only consider moving abroad should he decide to quit Arsenal.
Cole's solicitor Graham Shear accepts 'something is very seriously wrong' with his client's current perception of his relationship with the Gunners.
'Ashley clearly feels extremely upset with the way in which he feels he has been treated by David Dein,' Shear told BBC Radio Five Live's Sportsweek Programme.
'You read his words and you get the feeling that something is very seriously wrong with how he feels at this time.
'He accepts there is a two-way street on loyalty, but he doesn't feel the club have treated him properly.'
Cole and his agent Jonathan Barnett have pledged to clear the England international's name, with an appeal set to be lodged with the Premier League, and, if necessary, the case could be taken all the way to the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.
'The explanation which Ashley Cole and Jonathan Barnett provided [to the Premier League commission] was very simply they were going to a meeting with Pini Zahavi, so the secondary co-incidence of a meeting occurring is not part of their explanation,' commented Shear.
'We will see in the fullness of time whose versions of events will actually be accepted.
Shear added: 'I saw Ashley give evidence to the inquiry and, this is part of the reason why I was amazed at the decision of the inquiry - I don't think Ashley is capable of lying.
'He sat there and gave a very, very full and honest account.
'At the end of the day, the truth will out and we will find what the right result is here.'
There is a growing consensus in some quarters that Chelsea - backed by the millions of Russian Roman Abramovich - are a law unto themselves with the Cole `tapping up' controversy swiftly followed by a row over an approach for Tottenham sporting director Frank Arnesen.
Tottenham yesterday suspended Arnesen, claiming he had been the subject of an illegal approach from Chelsea, who insist their approach was above board.
Bolton chairman Phil Gartside, one of the Premier League's four representatives on the Football Association's main board, maintains there must be 'honour among thieves' as all the top-flight's clubs compete for the best players and coaching staff.
'I think the FA are concerned about how all clubs behave, and the image of the game is a very important thing to the FA, as it is to the Premier League,' the Bolton supremo reflected.
'We have all got to have, as it were, honour among thieves, because whilst we have a code of conduct, we also compete with each other and have to have that honour between us in that respect.
'The problem within football is loyalty, and I think that has been equally offended by both the employers and the employees. We have got to get that loyalty back in to the game.'
Gartside believes players have just as much a responsibility to stand by their agreements with the clubs as their employers do to offer improved terms.
He said: 'Ashley Cole has got two years to run on his contract, which he signed in good faith, so why can't he work through that two years of his contract?
'We sign these contracts in good faith as clubs, and they are just ignored.'
Gartside revealed: 'We have had an incident this year where a player has been brought in, has been with us less than six months, he is on a three-year contract, and comes in [to re-negotiate] because he has done reasonably well in 20 games, and all of sudden he wants a new contract. Now he decides he doesn't want to play for us because he wants that new contract.
'It is an absolute nonsense that you sign something for three years and then do not honour it.'
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