PLAYER PROFILE

Carlton Cole

Position: Forward

Height: 6'3

Weight: 12st 13lbs

Date of Birth: 1983-11-12 Croydon, England

Carlton Cole

Carlton Cole is a talented young English striker who made his Chelsea debut in April 2002 in their 3-0 home win against Everton. His first start came later in the month at Middlesbrough, and he marked the occasion with a goal.

In 2002/03, he started the campaign on fire, scoring three goals in his first three games and making the most of Chelsea's injury-plagued strikeforce. However, he was then shipped out on loan to Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he continued to impressed, though only scoring one goal.

He scored on his return to Chelsea in their 4-0 FA Cup win over Shrewsbury, and made a hero of himself in April 2003 when he scored the winning goal in consecutive games against Sunderland and Bolton. He clearly has a big future ahead of him.

Unfortunately, the arrival of Roman Abramovich changed Chelsea completely, and like many others on the fringe of the first team, Cole suddenly found himself further down the queue behind the new boys. In August 2003, he moved to Charlton Athletic on loan for the season, hoping to get regular football with the Addicks.

However, injuries prevented him making much of an impact at the Valley and although Alan Curbishley wanted to keep him, Cole left in the summer. His return to Chelsea was short-lived though, as he signed for Aston Villa in July on a season-long loan.

At Villa Park, he scored three goals in 27 games, but returned to Chelsea in 05/06 where he continued to struggle.

He therefore moved to West Ham United in July 2006 for an undisclosed fee.

However, despite scoring just 24 seconds into his debut, he rarely got the chance to prove his worth to West Ham and started only eight goals.

He enjoyed more luck in 2007/08 though and proved himself to be one of West Ham's most valuable players.