The rumors and wait is over, on Wednesday the LA Galaxy announced the signing of former English international, Ashley Cole.

The 35-year-old left back was brought to the Galaxy as a free transfer since AS Roma bought out the remainder of his contract earlier in the month. Now the only thing pending is the receipt of a P-1 Visa and ITC. The details of the contract were not made available to the public.

Since Cole is not a designated player, the experienced defender will fill an international roster spot. The former Chelsea player is the eighth player Galaxy’s Head Coach and General Manager Bruce Arena brought to LA in the offseason.

The veteran left back is also the sixth defensive player introduced to the club since the 2015 Major League Soccer (MLS) season ended. The other five are goalkeepers Dan Kennedy and Clément Diop, defenders Jelle Van Damme and Daniel Steres, plus hybrid MLS veteran Jeff Larentowicz.

The veteran coach has expressed his excitement for the arrival of the former Arsenal star.

“Ashley is one of the world’s most successful defenders and has played at the highest level of competition throughout his career,” Arena told LA Galaxy Communications. “He can provide our defense with valuable experience. We look forward to his contribution to our club this season.”

Cole has been playing professional soccer since 1998. He began his career with Arsenal; he ended up playing for the Gunners till 2006. He then moved to Chelsea and represented the Blues till 2014. For one year while he was at Arsenal, he was loaned to Crystal Palace for the 1999-2000 campaign.

During the time he played in his home country, Cole won a combined three English Premier League titles, seven FA Cup's and three FA Community Shields. However, with Chelsea he won a UEFA Europa League and Champions League.

At the international stage Cole made some history. He represented the English Men's National Team on the senior level for 13 years. He played in three World Cups (2002, 2006 and 2010). He also represented the Three Lions in the UEFA Euros twice (2004 and 2012).

We he decided to retire from the national team in 2014; he had been capped 107 times. Cole finished with the most ever appearances for the Three Lions as a left back.   

However, his legendary career did hit a bump when he made the jump to Serie A. In two seasons for Roma (2014-2016), he only made a total of 14 appearances. Cole knew that he was going have to leave Italy to attempt to resurrect his career.

I’ve worked out every day and that helped me motivate myself to train because I knew at the end of the season, I was going to leave” Cole told LA Galaxy Insider, Adam Serrano. “I wanted to stay as fit as I could, I’m good shape considering that I haven’t played. I can’t wait to train with the guys.”

However, his move to the Galaxy has been greeted with criticism. The objection of him coming to the league was not only for his age, but also for the comments he said about potentially playing in the MLS back in 2014.

"I had offers from the USA, but I'm not ready to relax on a beach yet," Cole told ESPN FC.

Saying those remarks automatically made him an unpopular man in MLS, without even playing a second. However, it appears that the former English international had a change of heart about the Galaxy and the league in general. A lot of it had to do with conversation he had with Arena, Galaxy’s Captain Robbie Keane and Cole’s former national teammate Steven Gerrard.

I’ve spoken to Bruce Arena and he told me that league is hectic, that it’s a tough league and a demanding league,” Cole told Serrano. “Robbie and Stevie told me the same. They told me that you have to be 100 percent honest when it comes to fitness and physicality, but hopefully I can transition quicker than I did at Roma.”

He later went on to add; “Hopefully, the LA fans will warm up to me. I know that it won’t be easy at the start, of course, but if I can just prove to them that I’m not here for a holiday, I’m here to work. I’m here to win things. I know that I’m 35, I’m not 21 anymore, so I have to understand that my body is not how it was years ago. I stay fit as much I can. I train as hard as I can, and I hope that I can bring trophies to the team. I hope to do that. In terms of proving people wrong, I’ve done that my entire career. I’ve always wanted to prove to people that I can play."

However, with the addition of Cole, Arena now has the dilemma of finding the starting defense. Out of the 27 players on the roster nine of them are defenders. Starting right back A.J. DeLaGarza, center back Leonardo and left back Robbie Rogers are still on the team.

Which now forces the questions where will Cole play? Will Rogers be demoted to the bench? Or will DeLaGarza take Leonardo's spot atcenter back and pair up with new signing in Van Damme. Then Arena can move Rogers to right back and place Cole is his natural starting spot?

These are just a few of the questions Arena will have to answer quickly since Cole is schedule to arrive in LA next week. However, the former English international seems excited for his new challenge in MLS. Regardless, that this move is already being considered a failure for LA and the league.

“I know that I have a lot to prove. I know that people have doubts about me because of my age and because I haven’t played in a long time,” Cole told Serrano. “It’s a motivation and it drives me to prove people wrong, and to remind myself that I can still play at a top level.”

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About the author
Jorge Belon
My name is Jorge Belon. I’m a writer for VAVEL USA and VAVEL UK. My focus is on soccer. Throughout the years I have created different blogs all revolving around soccer. My first was Mr. JB Soccer in 2012. Now I currently operate Belon Soccer News (BSN), where I cover soccer mostly from North America and international tournaments. I am a college at Los Angeles Valley College. I was a part of the college newspaper, The Valley Star for two years. At the Star I held the position of Sports Editor, News Editor, Managing Editor and Editor in Chief. I have been writing about soccer for the past three years. I have covered: Major League Soccer, Gold Cup, Under-20 Men’s World Cup, Women’s World Cup, Men’s World Cup and many more.