He said ""If I could, I'd like to sit down with every West Ham fan and explain my decision. It was such a mentally hard decision to make to leave the club, without even Chelsea coming into it.
"I've got friends and family who are West Ham supporters and so I obviously consulted all of them and explained the situation. They told me that I might regret it if I didn't go and I just hope all the fans understand and give me a good reception back there.
"I haven't got anything, but good things to say about them and the way they treated me. They have always liked players who run hard at West Ham. I think they can see some of themselves in that.
"I just thought that I might not be able to look at myself in the mirror in 10 years' time if I turned down this chance to improve myself as a player."
The big three to leave West Ham over the past few years are Rio Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Joe Cole. Rio is still, apparently, loved by the fans. Frank gets abuse! Which is strange because many Hammers fans think he is rubbish yet they got £11million for him so surely they should be happy to see him...
But I think Hammers fans will be angrier at the board for selling Cole, rather than at Cole for leaving. And he doesn't have to worry about the reception he gets for at least year...