Ashley Cole’s girlfriend Sharon Canu turned ex-Chelsea and Arsenal ace from villain to devoted dad after Cheryl divorce
SOME say you get wiser with age – and it looks to be the case for Ashley Cole.
The ex-Arsenal and Chelsea legend was a player that rival fans loved to hate.
On the pitch, he was recognised as one of the best players in the world.
But off it, his reputation as a ladies’ man came to the fore when it was revealed he had cheated on pop star Cheryl Tweedy.
But in 2014, Cole, now 39, met Italian model Sharon Canu while playing for Roma.
Under her spell, he was man transformed – a doting boyfriend who wanted to do the right thing by her.
He became a father in 2016, and the pair loved the responsibility so much they welcomed their second child in 2018.
Now a devout family man, Cole prefers a life away from the limelight.
“These are the things I focus on now – my kids and my girlfriend,” he told the Daily Telegraph last year.
“It’s a different me, I’m more of a family man now. You won’t see me in nightclubs any more, you’ll see me at a park pushing my kids.”
GLITZ AND GLAMOUR
By 2004, Cole was a regular in the Arsenal and England team – playing alongside Gunners’ greats and on his way to becoming an ‘Invincible’.
However, one thing was missing. The celebrity girlfriend. That same year, Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Tweedy walked into his life.
On paper, it appeared the couple were the next Posh and Becks. Blessed with good looks, their love affair was front and centre of every glitzy showbiz magazine.
They even appeared in a National Lottery advert too, dressed in white, as the nation warmed to their romance.
In 2006, they had a dream wedding at Wrotham Park, a stately mansion in Hertfordshire used in Hollywood movie Gosford Park, that was said to have cost £500,000.
But having sold the wedding rights to OK! magazine for a reported £1million, the nuptials didn’t cost them a thing.
It was supposed to be the beginning of the rest of their lives together.
TROUBLE BREWING
The Coles lived in a stunning £6million mansion in Godalming, Surrey, enjoying the fruits of two wages that brought their wealth to an estimated £25million between them.
However, trouble was brewing around the corner when Cheryl’s mum, Joan moved in.
The intimacy the two once had was reportedly gone, and Ashley and Cheryl’s romance began to unravel.
Reported affairs, including an alleged tryst with hairdresser Aimee Walton in 2008, was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The relationship broke down, and they officially divorced in 2010.
A NEW CHAPTER
Vilified Cole could’ve been forgiven for turning his back on love and starting a family.
But the timing was right when he met stunning Italian girlfriend Canu six years ago.
Full of life’s experiences, winning titles with Arsenal and Chelsea and learning from misdemeanours including accidentally shooting a work experience kid with a .22 calibre air rifle, at Chelsea’s Cobham training ground, Cole was ready to “grow up.”
He went to Roma, where Canu came into his life.
She followed him to Los Angeles when he then went to play for LA Galaxy, as well as for his final swansong at Derby – reuniting with former Blues team-mate Frank Lampard.
Having endured a romance in the public eye with Cheryl, Cole now knows better with Canu.
They keep an extremely low-profile, and Ashley doesn’t feature her on his social media pages.
Having sold his Surrey home he shared with Cheryl for less than the £7.5million asking price, Cole and Canu moved to a more modest Fetcham pad – five minutes from Chelsea’s training ground.
BECOMING A DAD
In 2016, the defender became a dad for the first time.
Beaming with pride, he shared a photo of his newborn son wearing a T-shirt with ‘Prince’ written on the back. Fittingly, Cole’s said ‘King’.
A source told The Sun: “It’s a beautiful picture and shows Ashley in a different light.
“Everyone has a past but this is now his future. Everyone hopes he will be the fantastic father we all know he can be.”
Two years later, a daughter came along to complete the family picture.
“I was a young, angry kid at the time and now I’ve grown up and understand the things I did is life, it happens,” he said.
“Not just me, but with certain situations loads of other people have done [the same]. I’ve learnt from it, it’s made me a better person. It’s made me a great dad.”
BROUGHT OUT HIS SOFTER SIDE
Fatherhood has brought the best out of Cole.
On his son’s first birthday, he couldn’t help but gush about his boy – showing off his softer side on Instagram.
“Today is the 28th of February. It’s a day I will cherish and never forget for the rest of my life,” he wrote.
“This morning I woke up to something that exceeds anything I’ve ever had before: a smile that never goes away.
“Everyday I wake up to the most beautiful thing I could ever dream of: a son that makes my heart melt, a son that never stops smiling, a son that can make me laugh no matter what kind of mood I’m in, a son that I’m proud of, a son I watch fall asleep because I never want to leave him, a son who reminded me what’s most important in life.
“Happy first birthday son, I will always be with you forever.”
AND NOW…
Having conquered his personal life, Cole has now set his sights on becoming a manager.
He said: “I want to be the best. In three, four or five years, hopefully I can be a top manager.
“I want to emulate people like Frank or JT… and Stevie G. Credit to them.”
Cole is currently learning his trade with Chelsea’s U15s, and will be looking to bring the next crop of talent through to Frank Lampard’s first team.
“You have to be a top player to play for Chelsea so they want those top ex-players influencing and trying to help the next generation develop and be better players,” he told Sky Sports.
And having worked under great managers like Arsene Wenger, Jose Mourinho and Carlo Ancelotti, Cole will be using that experience to shape his own destiny.
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He revealed: “Everyone has their own philosophy but you also have to take ideas that you like from different coaches. The first thing I learned on my coaching badges was that every coach is a thief.
“I want to take parts of Jose Mourinho in terms of how organised he was, Carlo Ancelotti for his man-management and how he would give players faith to go out and express themselves within his system and Arsene Wenger, who was definitely a great man-manager and put a lot of trust in young players.
“I want to be the best. I’ve been around a lot of great players and managers so it’s about understanding what it takes. I understood as a player what it took to be the best and now it’s about trying to transfer that into how I can be the best as a coach.”