The former England Under-21 striker, capped 19 times by his country at that level, signed for an undisclosed fee from Premiership champions Chelsea in July 2006 to add further firepower to the West Ham United front line.

A product of the youth academy system at Stamford Bridge, Cole was handed his first team debut for the Blues as an 18-year-old substitute against Everton in April 2002, and then he scored on his first start for Claudio Ranieri at Middlesbrough.

Later that year, he scored once during a brief, seven-game loan spell at Wolverhampton Wanderers but upon his return to Stamford Bridge, he still managed to end the 2002/03 season with five goals in 16 league and cup appearances for Chelsea.

Cole then headed to Alan Curbishley's Charlton Athletic for a year-long loan stint at The Valley, where he struck five goals in 22 appearances for the Addicks during the 2003/04 campaign.

Upon returning to Stamford Bridge he again found his opportunities stifled by Jose Mourinho's £24m signing Didier Drogba and he was forced to go in search of first-team football elsewhere. This time around, it was Aston Villa who snapped up the promising young striker on a 12-month loan and he scored three goals in 30 outings at Villa Park during the 2004/05 season.

Although Mourinho had declared Cole would be staying put at Stamford Bridge for the 2005/06 campaign, the goal-scoring exploits of Drogba and Hernan Crespo again restricted his chances during a term in which he made just nine substitute appearances in the Premiership and scored on his one and only start - a 2-1 FA Cup third round win over Huddersfield Town.

That was the catalyst for the Croydon-born striker to move eastwards along the River Thames in summer 2006 and he duly scored with his first touch on his West Ham debut after stepping from the bench in the 3-1 opening day victory over former club Charlton.

But despite that dream beginning to his West Ham career, he only managed to find the net on another two occasions, during a first season at the Boleyn Ground that saw him make eight starts and 13 substitute appearances.