Carlton Cole, the 6ft 3in striker born on 12th October 1983 in England, began his football career as a trainee at Chelsea in the Premier League, in October 2000. His time at the Blues was punctuated by loan spells; first to the Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2002, then Charlton Athletic in 2003, and finally, Aston Villa in 2004. In his initial stint at Chelsea, Cole had a tally of four goals from 16 first team appearances.
In July 2006, the Englishman left Chelsea, finding a permanent home at West Ham United after a £2.7 million transfer. His tenure at West Ham was eventful. Scoring a total of 53 goals over 229 first team appearances, his valuation seemed a bargain. Cole temporarily parted ways with West Ham in 2013 before rejoining the club a few months later, where he served for two more seasons.
Following his second exit from West Ham, Cole took a detour north of the border. Joining Celtic in the Scottish Premiership in October 2015, he had a short and less glorious spell. His contribution to the Scottish giants was minimal - a single season with just four first team appearances.