ROMAN ABRAMOVICH refused to sell any of his Chelsea stars to rivals Tottenham – and even blocked Carlton Cole’s switch.
The former Blues striker revealed the Russian oligarch – who bought the West Londoners in 2003 – would not sanction any deal with Spurs.
Cole, speaking on talkSPORT, said: “I almost joined Spurs. I went and did my medical and everything.
“Roman Abramovich found out and he said ‘you’ve got to come back, you’re not joining them’.
“He said ‘you can’t go to Spurs, I don’t do business with them’.”
The only Chelsea player in the Abramovich era to join Tottenham is Carlo Cudicini, with the reserve keeper allowed to leave on a free transfer in 2009.
Cole revealed that Abramovich tried to get him to move to Russia instead.
Cole continued: “‘I’ve got an alternative for you’ [said Abramovich]. I drive back to Stamford Bridge with my uncle and my dad.
“He had his interpreter with him. Roman Abramovich was there, we were talking. I was saying ‘where am I going?’
“He said, ‘I will give you a new contract but you’ve got to go to CSKA Moscow. His other team.
“I was trying to get into the England team. Those days you could not go abroad. If you go abroad you don’t get in the England team.
“So I said to him, ‘I ain’t going to CSKA Moscow, pal.”
Spurs and Chelsea have had a bitter rivalry on and off the pitch.
Feelings escalated on the pitch, resulting in the Battle of the Bridge in 2016 when several players from both sides clashed.
Abramovich was close to buying Spurs before he took over at the Blues.
He was thought to have picked Chelsea only when they qualified for the Champions League in the 2002-03 season under Claudio Ranieri.
It started an obsession with the English Premier League which nearly two decades later has resulted in multiple top-flight crowns and two Champions League titles.
Cole, who came through the ranks at Stamford Bridge, eventually left the club in 2006 to join West Ham.
He has previously revealed he left after a lack of first-team opportunities at Chelsea.
The ex-Celtic centre-forward retired in 2018, with Cole now working as a technical academy coach at West Ham.
