Arsenal under Arsene Wenger lost a number of incredible players to their rivals.

Indeed, after the construction of The Emirates Stadium, Arsenal were hamstrung financially, and that meant that many of their top talents were picked off by other clubs.

The likes of Emmanuel Adebayor, Samir Nasri and Kolo Toure headed off to Manchester City, while Robin van Persie, infamously went to Manchester United.

However, according to Arsene Wenger, the most regretful sale he had to make at Arsenal was Ashley Cole.

Speaking on the Seaman Says Podcast, Wenger stated that Cole was the player he truly regretted selling when he joined Chelsea in a £5m deal in a part-exchange for William Gallas.

Photo by Richard Callis/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty ImagesWenger’s regret

The Arsenal legend spoke about selling Cole.

“Well of the players who left Arsenal who had a very big career after leaving Arsenal I would say Ashley Cole. He was the only one who moved on and improved his career. It was a regret of my life. We recently had a meeting with the Invincibles, and he was in the meeting. I was glad he was in the meeting because he had a bad feeling and I had regrets that he left the club at the time,” Wenger said.

Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty ImagesIrreplaceable

Selling Ashley Cole was a real turning point for Arsenal, because he was a truly irreplaceable player.

Make no mistake about it, Cole was the best left-back in the world for a time, and while he was missed from the XI immediately after his departure, selling Cole also sent a message to other rivals that nobody was untouchable.

In the years to come after Cole left, every star player Arsenal had was poached from Thierry Henry to Cesc Fabregas all the way to Alexis Sanchez, and it’s only now that the Gunners are beginning to re-establish some semblance of authority in the market.

Cole leaving Arsenal was a damaging deal for the Gunners, that’s for sure.