'Jose Mourinho was p*ssed off!' - Carlton Cole lifts lid on his nightclubbing antics at Chelsea & why Roman Abramovich REFUSES to sell players to Tottenham

Before enjoying the best years of his career as a West Ham player, Cole was on the books at Chelsea and made 25 Premier League appearances for the Blues prior to his exit in 2006. He spent the 2005-06 season under Mourinho at Stamford Bridge, before ultimately deciding he needed to leave amid intense competition for regular first-team minutes.

Reflecting on that decision, Cole tells Adebayo Akinfenwa on the latest Beast Mode On Podcast: "It wasn't that I was feeling inferior, I was still doing my bit. He (Mourinho) was definitely impressed, because he probably didn't think I was that good, but he knew that the writing's on the wall. I had to go and do my thing now. If I was older, then maybe I could stay. I was still young, trying to make a living.

"I wasn't living right. He was p*ssed off with that as well. He wasn't happy. I was going nightclubbing and everything all the time."

When asked how Mourinho knew about his off-the-field behaviour, Cole adds: "It gets about. Owners and all that, they've got hands and ears everywhere. They know who's been out. They know. It doesn't help being young, doing that, and you're trying to get in the first team. It was hard for me to get my head around that. I was so caught up in my own head. I wasn't respecting my craft anymore. I was still getting money, messing about. I was concentrating on the wrong things."

Cole made close to 300 appearances in all competitions during almost a decade at West Ham but it all could've turned out completely differently for the former England forward. As he tells Akinfenwa, Cole had agreed to join Tottenham prior to the deal being done with the Hammers, only for Roman Abramovich to personally intervene.

He says: "Before I went on holiday, I did my medical at Spurs. I remember I'd done everything, was about to sign, under Martin Jol, [then-Tottenham coach] Clive Allen wanted to sign me because he's the one who wanted to work with me. That's when I got the Abramovich phone call, because he found out. He told me that night he doesn't do business with Spurs. That's why I didn't go to Spurs.

"Remember before he bought Chelsea he was going to buy Spurs. The way it happened, he went in a helicopter to see London because he wanted to buy a football club. Spurs were the one that stuck out to him. He did the deal with Spurs, someone up top changed the deal that he'd agreed on buying it for, and then he's like: 'I can't do business like this'. So he says we'll go Chelsea and buy that [instead], and that's when Ken Bates [former Chelsea owner] sold."

Explaining the failed move to Spurs in more detail, Cole adds: "Tottenham came back to Chelsea and said: 'We want some money off because we found something in his knee'. And then he (Abramovich) said: 'No, we aren't doing a deal with Spurs so you better come back. I'll send you on loan to CSKA Moscow'.

"I was p*ssed off! You lot are doing me dirty here! You're not playing me and you're not letting me go where I want to go. What are we doing here? You want to send me to Russia. So I went away to clear my head, to Sierra Leone, then I get the phone call, we've got something else for you, West Ham, and that was it. As soon as I landed, I signed."

Little is known about Cole's relationship with 50 Cent, with the American rap sensation having been introduced to the ex-West Ham striker via a mutual friend and business associate.

Discussing how the pair first came into contact, Cole recalls: "I was going through a bad patch in my life, whilst I was playing football. There's family problems, issues, agents and everything. When money's involved, it's not nice. When you're not from money, a lot of people lose their heads. I got to a point in my life where I needed bit of extra help. I was leaving my agent at the time, and I got introduced to a guy called Tony. He's a guy who wears his heart on his sleeve, not everybody's cup of tea.

"His story is that he was in the music industry, he had connections with 50 Cent. He was looking after 50 Cent's tours, working with a load of record companies. He was looking after artists when they came into town. That's how I got connected. When 50 came into town, I got connected with him. Whenever 50 came over, I'd hang around [with him], I'd go over to New York, hang around with G-Unit, all of that sort of stuff. It was weird. This whole scenario started from me being a fan. In my house I had a DJ room, I had 50 Cent posters all up, Tupac.

"You know about law of attractions, when you like something so much it comes to you. I loved music and 50 was popular at the time. Lloyd Banks, The Game, and I was around it. I was like: 'This is amazing, how am I involved in this group? I might have to quit football!' There were few times when 50's had his concert, we'll go back to the hotel, just talking. And he'll just give you words of advice, proper gems. He's not really into [football] like that. I was probably the only footballer that he knew properly. It wasn't one of those where he was following my career. I think he might have [come to watch me play] at Upton Park."

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