Former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted that allowing defender Ashley Cole to leave the club in 2006 so that he could join Chelsea was the "worst decision of his life.

From 1996 to 2018, Wenger led Arsenal for 22 years, winning three Premier League championships and seven FA Cup trophies.

The Frenchman has now spoken out about one of his biggest errors while playing for the Premier League club in North London, citing his choice to permit Cole to leave Emirates 17 years ago.

“I would say the player who left Arsenal and had a very big career after Arsenal is Ashley Cole,” Wenger said on the Seaman Says podcast.

“He was the only one who moved on and fulfilled his career, and it was the regret of my life.

“Recently we had a meeting, and I was glad he was in the meeting because he had a bad feeling, and I had a regret that he left the club at the time.”

Wenger also disclosed that Arsenal were ‘close’ to signing both Cristiano Ronaldo and N’Golo Kante during his time at the club.

“I missed many great players; we missed Ronaldo; he was close to signing for us; Kante; you miss many, but it is part of every football club,” he added.