Money, medals, goals... health is true wealth

treat a knock, ‘Yeah, you’ll get through it, you’ll run it off’.

“But a couple of days of not feeling great stretched into four or five. I didn’t want to go to the doctor but my wife nagged me to go. She saved my life.”

One of the side-effects of the steroids he was given was that he put on weight and had to put up with hurtful ‘who ate all the pies’ comments, until he went public about his illness.

“I’m not the sort of person who likes to come out and admit they’ve got a problem. If you put on a bit of weight, people make the assumption, ‘Oh, he’s eating too much’.

“You’re in the public eye and people are going to question your appearance. So I decided I wasn’t going to hide it. If I’m ill, I’m ill. And when I came out and explained what happened, I think people thought, ‘Bloody hell!’ They were shocked. Since then the support I’ve had on social media or when I’ve been out and about has been unbelievable.”

Cole appreciates the support he has had from his former team-mates but singles out his old strike partner Dwight Yorke and Roy Keane for special mention.

“Yorkie has been phenomenal and Roy phoned me up to ask if he could come and visit me. He turned up at the hospital and we had two hours having a laugh and a joke,” he said.

“People have their opinions of Roy. He was a phenomenal player, an unbelievable captain, but to me he’s a special guy.”

And Cole is looking forward to renewing the dressing-room banter before today’s Legends game. “That’s what you miss the most,” he said. “When the boys get together it is a special feeling. When we all disperse after the game I know I will feel disappointed because it might be another year before we all catch up again.”

Cole takes great pride in his son Devante, who now plays for Fleetwood after spells at Barnsley and Manchester City as a youth player.

“He’s not as headstrong as me at that age. I was always fiery, always spoke my mind. He’s a lot cooler,” said Cole. “If I could have been like that, I might have made it a bit easier for myself.”

Cole admits he has mellowed but the drive and determination that took him to the top as a player are helping him to come through a far bigger fight.

TICKETS for the United v Barcelona legends game are on sale at www.manutd.com/ legendsareback. All proceeds will go to the Manchester United Foundation.