It was a cold and blustery morning in the Midlands a few years ago and Joe Cole, English football’s one-time boy wonder, was asked why he was still doing this at the age of 34, leaving his home in Essex at 6.30am every day, a five-hour round trip for the sake of what would ultimately prove an unfulfilling spell with Coventry City.

“Because it feels right,” he said. “Maybe there’s the odd morning where I’m aching and I think it would be nice to stay in bed another couple of hours, but then I slap myself and think, ‘What else am I going to do?’ I get here, the banter starts flying, I get out on the training pitch and, yeah, it feels right.”

Cole drove Mourinho mad at times but he was an integral part of Chelsea’s success and they liked each other IAN HODGSON/REUTERS

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