Former West Ham United and Chelsea striker Carlton Cole has said that he could not let his son play professionally for Millwall or Tottenham Hotspur due to his personal loyalties.
The comments from Cole, who scored 68 goals in 293 West Ham games between 2006 and 2015, come after reports from the Daily Mail claimed that former Manchester United midfielder Darren Fletcher is set to let his twin sons sign professional contracts within Manchester City’s academy.
The report claims that Fletcher’s 16-year-old sons Jack and Tyler are set to sign pro terms at City, despite father Darren being the current technical director of arch-rivals United.
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Even with the controversy considering the rivalry between United and City, ex-Red Devils players Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Phil Neville, Andrew Cole and Viv Anderson have all previously let their kids play for City at youth level.
The news sparked a debate on talkSPORT, which led to Carlton Cole’s comments, where he said that he could not see his son playing for Spurs or Millwall due to his personal allegiances.
“You have to have a moral compass,” he told talkSPORT . “I’m West Ham and a bit of Chelsea.
“I can’t see my son playing for Tottenham or Millwall. It’s a no-go zone.”
Cole later went on to say that because of how he has previously been treated by Millwall fans, if his son ever played for them, he would not feel comfortable going to support him there, joking he would need a disguise.
While he hopes his son makes it professionally, he has told him to think carefully about which club he will join if he gets in the position to do so.
“I wouldn’t be able to support them. If he went to Millwall, I wouldn’t be able to go down there!” Cole added. “I would get pelters. I would have to go in disguise.
“I would love my son to just make it in general, to live his dream, but if it’s the wrong club… you do think about it!
“If I went, I’d have to go with some armoury. I’m scared for my life over there, you’ve not seen the way they’ve treated me!”
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