Back in the day Ashley Cole was given dogs’ abuse for going from Arsenal to Chelsea, but there just seems to be no proper animosity now from fans towards former players. Cech, David Luiz, Giroud and now Havertz have all gone to the other side, but no one really seems to care and all those listed seem to still be well respected by their former club (apart from Havertz, who no one seems to care about either way).
Why has this rivalry died off? Arsenal and Tottenham players would never transfer to each other, nor Man United players to city or liverpool etc.
I think its because for Ashley Cole, he was in his prime and beloved by the fans while the other transfers had spend their prime at their respective clubs. No one wanted Cole to move, things didn’t work out salary wise, but the fans wanted him to stay.
For Havertz, he didn’t quite click at Chelsea as everyone had hoped, so the fans don’t see him as a big loss.
But Cech, David Luiz, Giroud, Jorginho, Willian etc, had served their respective clubs well and were looking to move. The fact that they moved to the other club was incidental.