Manchester United broke the British transfer record when Cole arrived at Old Trafford in January 1995. £6million and the £1million-rated Keith Gillespie made their way to St.James' Park in exchange for the Nottingham-born star who had set Newcastle alight with his fantastic goalscoring ability.

Cole had started his career at Arsenal but made only two appearances for the Gunners and, following a loan spell at Fulham, joined Bristol City £500,000. Cole bagged 25 goals in a glittering twelve-month spell at Ashton Gate before getting another crack at the Premier League with the Barcodes.

The striker grabbed his opportunity at Newcastle with both arms - netting a sublime 68 goals for the club in 84 appearances. He broke the club's goalscoring record after netting 41 goals in a season and was handed the PFA Young Player of the Year for his efforts. It therefore was unsurprising that Sir Alex Ferguson was prepared to splash the cash on the striker.

At United, Cole burst onto the scene with twelve goals in his first eighteen league appearances for United, including 5-goals in a game as United thrashed Ipswich 9-0 at Old Trafford.

However, he had plenty of his critics in his early years at Old Trafford and the player had mixed fortunes in his first two full seasons at the club. In 1995/1996, Cole scored 13 times from 43 appearances as United won the League and Cup double, whilst the arrival of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and a horror leg-break injury restricted his chances in 1996/1997 to just 28 appearances - 14 from the bench - and seven goals.

It was the three seasons that followed that would cement Cole's place in the history books of the club. Though United finished the next season trophyless, he fired home 25 goals from 45 appearances including a European hat-trick against Feyenoord.

Cole's career highlight, however, was to come the following season. He formed a formidable partnership with Dwight Yorke in attack and, despite competition for places from Solskjaer and Teddy Sheringham, netted a further 24 goals including a strike against Spurs which secured the league title and a crucial goal in Juventus as United booked their ticket to the European Cup final.

Cole again broke the 20-goal barrier in 1999/2000 as United retained the Premier League crown. His 19 league strikes proved his best Premiership return in the red jersey, though, injuries and competition for places restricted his chances in the two seasons that followed.

However, despite limited first-team appearances, Cole's goal record was still hugely impressive. In 2000/2001 he netted 13 times from 31 appearances, and in the following campaign - before exiting in December - he found the net 5 times from 15 outings.

Cole quit United for Blackburn Rovers for a whopping £8million. He scored 121 goals for United from 275 appearances, winning 5 league titles, 2 F.A Cups, an Intercontinental Cup and a European Cup in the process.

He went onto win the League Cup with Rovers though a 3-year spell at Ewood Park grew increasingly frustrating. Cole would go onto play for Fulham, Man City, Portsmouth, Birmingham City, Sunderland and Burnley - though his short 13-match loan spell at Turf Moor was the only time Cole matched the superb goals-to-game ratio he achieved with Bristol City, Newcastle and MUFC.

Capped 15 times for England, Cole's career ended in unfavourable circumstances with hometown club Nottingham Forest. He made eleven appearances for Colin Calderwood's men - his 12th club of his career - but the player was accused of arrogance by Forest fans and failed to impress in eleven appearances. His contract was cancelled by mutual consent and Cole confirmed his retirement a week later.

Cole will now take a break from the game before seeking a coaching role. He says that the biggest regret of his career was leaving Old Trafford "too early" - but United fans can fondly look back on his 6 seasons with the club and remember 'Goal King Cole' as one of the finest goalscorers to ever pull on the famous red jersey.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon

SPORTNETWORK SPECIALS

Manchester United Poll