Ashley Cole reveals what he wants to do when he retires as Roma defender reflects on life away from the Premier League

Cole has ambitions of becoming a scout after spending a year travelling

Roma defender Ashley Cole (Getty Images)

Ashley Cole has revealed what he wants to do when he finally hangs up his boots after giving a revealing interview in what he has planned in life after football.

The eventual destination would be to become a scout – in essence, more football – but before he embarks on a career of watching the brightest young talents across the globe, he wants to channel his inner student and travel the world for a year.

The former Arsenal and Chelsea defender admits that he would love to “find a diamond in the rough” in terms of finding the next big thing, but has plans to travel before so he can truly get to experience what the world has to offer.]

Cole goes on to reveal that even though being a professional footballer gives him the opportunity to travel the world, he rarely gets to see what each location has to offer.

“I'd like to be a scout, go watch the games and try and find a diamond in the rough,” Cole told the Herald Sun.

“First I'll probably take a year off and relax a bit. I've been to so many beautiful countries and never got the chance to see them.”

Cole's error led to a goal for Manchester City (Getty Images)

Cole also admitted that while playing in Italy has posed difficulties in changing his style of play, he feels free of the British press who followed his life every step of the way during his time in London.

"Of course, I wake up every morning new, free as a bird," he added. "I know there's not going to be a rubbish story in the paper about going to a nightclub or doing this or that.

“I had a few offers in the Premier League, but I didn't want to stay. I thought it was time to leave and enjoy a different culture,” added Cole.

“In the Premier League you have smaller more nippy wingers but here (Italy) it's defensive so you get a big guy on your side and many teams play wing-backs and sometimes you mark two.

“Maybe it was a bit too physical for me and I weren't ready for it.”

Cole’s return to English interests didn’t go to plan as his poor attempted back-pass header only succeeded in finding Manchester City striker Kelechi Iheanacho to open the scoring for the Premier League side – who went on to win the pre-season friendly on penalties.