Wenger blasts 'arrogant' Chelsea in Cole 'tapping row'
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is stunned by how “arrogant” and “naïve” Chelsea were to set up an alleged meeting with Ashley Cole in a London hotel.
Cole and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho will today give testimonies to lawyers gathering evidence for the Premier League inquiry into the Stamford Bridge’s claimed illegal approach to the England full-back.
But Wenger accused Chelsea of thinking they are above the rules governing the sport.
“I am surprised that it could happen in the centre of London, in a hotel,” Wenger said of the alleged meeting between Cole, Mourinho and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon.
“Why not do it in the middle of the M25 and then at least everybody knows?
“It seems Chelsea think they are above everything and they just do it where they want.
“It’s quite surprising. I cannot believe the way it happened. The whole process, the way it has happened, is amazing.”
Wenger is now convinced the meeting took place, but had trouble believing it at first.
“When the story first came out, my first reaction was it cannot be true because it is too big. I cannot imagine anything as naïve and as arrogant as that. But who punishes who is not my problem.
“I don’t know the reasons behind it, maybe it was to destabilise us, I don’t know. But I just think that there are rules, especially when you are in the same city.
“It’s not like Real Madrid tapping up a player. People know each other and it’s not very complicated to call and say ‘this is what’s happening’. But they cannot take the player without our permission.”
