Striker says he almost joined Tottenham from Chelsea but Roman Abramovich blocked the move

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Only a handful of footballers have ever played for both Chelsea and Tottenham, with few moving directly between the bitter London rivals.

Currently, the likes of Conor Gallagher and Dominic Solanke find themselves at Spurs having previously played for the Blues, while in terms of managers, Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte have coached both sides.

Carlton Cole has now told the Saux What podcast that he too was close to representing both Chelsea and Tottenham – before Roman Abramovich personally stepped in and cancelled the deal.

Carlton Cole opens up on Tottenham saga

The 42-year-old said: “I got bought. I was supposed to go. I was actually supposed to go to. I did my medical at Spurs. I’d done my medical at Spurs and it was quite amazing actually, I’d done it. As I was driving home I got a phone call from Eugene. So Eugene was Abramovich’s right hand man.

“He says, you’ve got to come back to have a meeting the next day with Abramovich because he’s not happy that you’re going to Spurs. I was like, well, I’m a spare part here, you’ve just won the league. (Jose) Mourinho’s not got no plans for me.”

Cole – who adored Eidur Gudjohnsen at Chelsea – continued: “So, I went to the gym right next to the stadium and met Abramovich in there with my uncle and my dad…we were having a coffee and he just says, listen, I don’t do business with Spurs.”

Cole – who once accidentally knocked a Chelsea teammate out – was later sold to West Ham in July 2006, where he went on to score 67 goals in 293 appearances for the east Londoners.

Having only netted eight goals in 32 appearances for Chelsea, it wouldn’t have been the greatest loss for the Blues to sell the former England international to Spurs.

However, the fact Abramovich even stepped in to block a fringe player from moving to north London just goes to show how intense the rivalry between Chelsea and Tottenham really is.