Roma officially releases Ashley Cole, clearing way for MLS move

Photo credits: AFP.

England’s most capped full back Ashley Cole has been released by Roma, the Italian Serie A club said on Tuesday.

The 35-year-old former Arsenal and Chelsea star only joined the Italians 18 months ago. He made just 16 appearances across all competitions last season and had not featured a single time on a match sheet during the current campaign.

“The club would like to thank Cole for his commitment during his stay in Rome and wish him the very best for his future career,” said a short Roma statement on their official website.

Italian media claim Cole could move to the United States to play in Major League Soccer.

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Cole won 107 England caps before retiring from international duty in 2014 after being omitted from his country’s World Cup squad. During a glittering club career he won three Premier League titles, the FA Cup seven times, one League Cup and the Champions League with Chelsea in 2012, adding the Europa League a year later.

He was considered one of the best fullbacks of his generation but his career also included several controversial off-field incidents. He was married to an English pop star, Cheryl Tweedy, but that relationship ended following a spate of adultery accusations, which Cole denied. In 2011, he accidentally shot a work experience student with an air rifle at Chelsea. But perhaps his most infamous moment was when claiming he was left “trembling with anger” when Arsenal offered him only £55,000 a week — around double the national average yearly salary at that time — in a contract extension soon before he quit the Gunners and moved to Stamford Bridge.