Man United rolled out the red carpet to sign me, but I rejected chance to play with David Beckham for West Ham before Chelsea dream

Joe Cole revealed the lengths Sir Alex Ferguson went to to sign him as a teenager.

Cole had an illustrious career playing for West Ham, Chelsea and Liverpool, but Manchester United were desperate to sign him when he was coming through the youth ranks of football.

When he was a teenager, Fergie even made him an offer that was difficult to turn down and he explained why he had to.

Cole told John Obi Mikel’s podcast: “This is probably why Fergie is the best we’ve seen. He found me as a kid, around 14 or 15, then invited me up to Manchester United.

“You go up, they took me out for dinner with my mum and dad. I met Eric Cantona, Ryan Giggs and all the players. They really wined and dined me.

“He actually offered me the chance to come with the team before the 1994 FA Cup final against Chelsea and walk out on the pitch.

“As a 13-year-old boy, that’s a dream. But I’d already decided to sign for West Ham.”

Manchester United had a revered academy that produced, among others, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and the Neville brothers, who formed the backbone of the team that won the 1999 treble.

But there were plenty of future greats on the books at West Ham, too.

Cole continued: “My West Ham team as a kid was the best team. I just liked it there. I was a Chelsea supporter. I used to go and watch them as a kid. You know the kids who sit by the tunnel and get your autograph — that was me.

“I was a ball boy, too.

“The academy at Chelsea for my year wasn’t very good. I didn’t want to play in a team that wasn’t very good.

“When I went to West Ham, I just fell in love with the people there. The youth development guy and the coach were great.

“Rio [Ferdinand] was a few years older than me, Frank [Lampard] was a few years older than me,