Joe Cole looks set to end his career where it began as he closes in on a return to West Ham United.
Queens Park Rangers manager Harry Redknapp revealed on Wednesday night the 31-year-old had opted to join his old club rather than his old manager.
Cole celebrates his opener against Arsenal in August 2002
Cole, a product of the Hammers' famed Academy, was part of the imperious 1999 FA Youth Cup-winning side which decimated Coventry City 9-0 over the two-legged final. Michael Carrick was a teammate of Cole's.
He played in the Hammers' first-team for four-and-a-half-years, making 158 appearances, until their relegation from the Premier League in 2003. Cole joined Chelsea for a knockdown £6m and won three league titles, two FA Cups and two League Cups with his boyhood club.
A fruitful loan spell at Lille was sandwiched within his disastrous stint at Liverpool prior to his imminent return to the Boleyn Ground.
