Carlton Cole

Carlton Michael George Cole (born 12 October 1983) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as a striker.

He scored 52 goals in 288 Premier League appearances for four clubs.

He began his career as a trainee with Chelsea, before signing his first professional contract with the club in October 2000.

Cole began his career at Chelsea in 2001, spending spells out on loan at Wolverhampton Wanderers, Charlton Athletic and Aston Villa before being transferred to West Ham United in 2006.

He made one more appearance for Chelsea in the 2001–02 season, in a 3–1 home defeat against Aston Villa in May.

He made his first-team debut on 6 April 2002 as a substitute for Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in a 3–0 home victory against Everton.

He made his first senior start three weeks later, scoring a goal as Chelsea beat Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium.

Cole started the 2002–03 season in the Chelsea first-team squad, scoring a goal and making another in the opening match of the season in a 3–2 win over Charlton Athletic after coming on as a substitute for Gianfranco Zola.

He suffered a hairline fracture in his leg in August but returned to action in a League Cup tie against Gillingham on 6 November, scoring both Chelsea goals in a 2–1 home win in the third round.

Chelsea manager Claudio Ranieri described Cole as being the best young player that he had ever coached, saying, "I've never coached a young player like Carlton. He's fantastic even though he hasn't really started his career yet. He has a very long contract, and, in my opinion, a very big future at Chelsea".

However, with Eiður Guðjohnsen, Hasselbaink and Zola available for selection, Cole's first team opportunities were limited and he was loaned to Wolverhampton Wanderers in November for one month, later extended to two months.

Cole made seven appearances for Wolves, scoring one goal to win the home game against Norwich City on 7 December.

His loan spell was cut short as Chelsea, needing cover, recalled him early in January 2003.

He made a further 12 league and cup appearances for Chelsea in the season, in addition to the four that he made before going on loan to Wolves.

He scored six goals in all for Chelsea that season, including a long-range left-footed strike against Sunderland, and the winner against Bolton Wanderers in April 2003 as Chelsea pressed for a place in the UEFA Champions League.

Cole signed a new six-year contract with Chelsea in July 2003.

After the club's purchase by billionaire Roman Abramovich led to the signings of international strikers Adrian Mutu and Hernán Crespo, Cole went to Charlton Athletic on a season-long loan in August.

He scored five goals in 22 league and cup appearances, helping Charlton to finish the 2003–04 season in seventh place in the Premier League.

Despite Charlton being keen to retain Cole's services for the 2004–05 season, he joined Aston Villa on a season-long loan in July 2004.

This move sparked off a dispute, as Charlton were expecting Cole to return to the club as part of the deal that took Scott Parker from Charlton to Chelsea.

The dispute was later resolved when the two clubs reached a settlement.

Cole scored three goals in 30 league and cup appearances for Villa, including a goal on his debut in a 2–0 win over Southampton on 14 August, in a season which was interrupted by a knee injury picked up in an England under-21 match against the Netherlands in February 2005.

He returned to Chelsea in the summer of 2005 where he appeared in pre-season friendlies.

However, first team opportunities were limited by the presence of Didier Drogba and Hernán Crespo, and Cole made only 12 league and cup appearances for Chelsea in the 2005–06 season, scoring one goal in an FA Cup win over Huddersfield Town.

He joined West Ham United in July 2006, having made a total of 31 league and cup appearances for Chelsea, scoring eight goals.

Cole joined West Ham United in July 2006 for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract.

He scored seconds into his competitive debut for West Ham after coming on as a substitute in injury time to seal a 3–1 home win against Charlton on 19 August.

However, in a season of turmoil at West Ham.

in which the club only secured their place in the Premier League on the final day of the season, Cole was unable to establish himself in the first team, making 23 league and cup appearances, 15 of which were as substitute, and scoring three goals.

In the 2008–09 season, Cole scored twelve goals in all competitions, as well as picking up a further four assists.

He started the season in good form, scoring four goals in his first eight matches.

On 26 October 2008, Cole received his first red card of his West Ham career against Arsenal, with a foul on Alex Song at Upton Park.

Cole's form earned him a new five-year contract, which he signed in November.

He made 19 England under-21 appearances (scoring six goals), and made his debut for the England national team on 11 February 2009 in a friendly match against Spain.

Cole was born in Croydon, London to a Nigerian father and Sierra Leonean mother.

He continued the good form in 2009–10 season, made 30 Premier League appearances, starting 26 of them.

He scored ten Premier League goals, including one penalty in the 5–3 home win over Burnley on 28 November.

He was then linked with a £20 million January 2010 transfer to Manchester United.

He was released by West Ham in 2013 only to be re-signed several months later, and the club released him for a second time in May 2015.

He later had brief spells at Celtic in Scotland, Sacramento Republic in the United States and Persib Bandung in Indonesia.