'I almost signed for Manchester United, but all of a sudden Chelsea came in for me – then they almost sent me on loan to CSKA Moscow' Joe Cole on his Russian Premier League and Old Trafford near-misses

Joe Cole was a wanted man when his first spell at West Ham United was coming to an end.

Cole came through the youth ranks at West Ham before joining Chelsea as one of the first signings made on the watch of Roman Abramovich.

It was the natural move for a west Londoner and Chelsea fan but there were other teams interested in his services too.

Joe Cole on almost signing for Manchester United

"Arsenal had first refusal on both myself and Michael Carrick, but Arsene Wenger pulled out of it," Cole tells FourFourTwo.

"Alex Ferguson wanted me again, but he had to wait for Juan Sebastian Veron to join Chelsea – Manchester United said, 'Yes, we want to do it, but we’re waiting, we’re waiting.'

"All of a sudden Chelsea came in for me, a bid was accepted and I was told, 'Go and speak to Claudio Ranieri, and sign.' West Ham needed to sell me, and Chelsea were my team as a kid.

"Roman Abramovich had just taken over at Chelsea, and I later found out that when I first signed, they wanted to loan me out to CSKA Moscow. Looking back, they’d signed Geremi from Real Madrid, they’d signed Veron, they’d also signed Damien Duff who’d been one of the best players in the league with Blackburn during the previous season, and Manu Petit was coming back from injury.

"I was 21 years old, signed as a ‘we’ll see what we do with this kid’.

"My dad said no to the idea of loaning me out to CSKA Moscow, and he decided not to tell me it had been suggested. I was just thinking, ‘Let me try to get into this team and play as many minutes as I can.’

"That season, I played 50 games – 25 starts, plus 25 times off the bench. I played a lot of football. I’m glad I didn’t go to Moscow!"

Cole went on to win the Premier League three times as a Chelsea player as well as the FA Cup twice and the League Cup.

He was an occasional thorn in the side of the Red Devils, inflicting damage directly with a goal against them in April 2010 that helped Chelsea towards the Premier League title.

In 2008, his personal journey with Man United came to a head in Moscow, of all places. United beat the Blues in a penalty shoot-out to win the Champions League.