Carlton Cole has returned to West Ham on three-month contract after initially leaving the club just three months ago.
The 30-year-old striker failed to agree a new deal at the end of last season, but could not find a new club during the summer.
And after around six weeks of training with the club in order to regain his fitness, Cole has put pen-to-paper on a three-month, set to expire on 13 January 2014, to assist the Hammers’ striker shortage while Andy Carroll remains sidelined with a foot injury.
Cole told whufc.com: “I’m in an excellent mood, am happy to be back and can’t wait to get working with the lads again and start my season off.
“I’ve been working hard with the strength and conditioning coach Mathew Monte-Colombo in the gym and he’s been really hands-on with me to get me up to standard to train with the team and get my match-fitness up as quickly as possible with a view to signing.
“I feel fit and raring to go and it’s time to start knocking on the manager’s door to get some games under my belt.”
And the striker also admitted that he was delighted for his team mates after their 3-0 victory at White Hart Lane and believes his return could be fate following his departure only a few months ago.
“I didn’t actually see the Tottenham game but I saw the goals going in on Sky Sports News and, being a West Ham fan, I was over-chuffed for the team, the players and the manager,” Cole added.
“At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason and you don’t always choose what is going to happen to you. We decided to part ways in the summer but West Ham and me have ended up together again! Hopefully I can come in and be who I am and help the team achieve what we need to achieve.”
Cole also took to Twitter to thank the West Ham fans for their support and to show off his new No.24 shirt:
I'm a West Ham United Player again. Thanks for the support. pic.twitter.com/qitYKkGeep
— Carlton Cole (@CarltonCole1) October 14, 2013
Cole could make his second West Ham debut on Saturday when the Hammers welcome Manchester City to the Boleyn Ground.
Cole’s full season-by-season record, since initially signing for the club from Chelsea in 2006, is below:
| Season | League Apps | League Goals | Cup Apps | Cup Goals | Yellow Cards | Reds Cards | Total Apps | Total Goals | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006/2007 | 5 (12) | 2 | 3 (1) | 1 | 4 | 0 | 21 | 3 | ||||
| 2007/2008 | 21 (10) | 4 | 4 (2) | 2 | 9 | 0 | 37 | 6 | ||||
| 2008/2009 | 26 (1) | 10 | 4 (1) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 32 | 12 | ||||
| 2009/2010 | 26 (4) | 10 | 1 (1) | 0 | 4 | 0 | 32 | 10 | ||||
| 2010/2011 | 21 (14) | 5 | 5 (3) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 43 | 11 | ||||
| 2011/2012 | 31 (12) | 15 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 43 | 15 | ||||
| 2012/2013 | 14 (13) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 29 | 2 | ||||
| 2013/2014 | 9 (16) | 6 | 2 (2) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 6 | ||||
| 2014/2015 | 8 (14) | 2 | 0 (3) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 25 | 3 | ||||
| Total: | 161 (96) | 56 | 21 (13) | 12 | 39 | 3 | 292 | 68 |
