Geordies and Lancastrians alike will probably let off an audible moan at this point and plead no contest. “Why, Alan Shearer, of course,” the tone in their voices ringing with disgust that anybody else dare be mentioned in the same breath as their hero.

On paper, at least, the Newcastle United captain, once of Blackburn Rovers, would appear the obvious choice. The likes of Thierry Henry and Michael Owen do not come close to matching his remarkable record of 250 Premiership goals. Indeed, few in world football have led the line with such consistency as Shearer.

But if greatness requires something more than goals, can we look past Andrew Cole? An absurd notion, some would argue, or is it just that grudging refusal to accept what an exceptional striker Cole has been for more than a decade that blinds us from the facts?

Fifty-two of Shearer’s 250 Premiership goals have come from the penalty spot. One of Cole’s 192 has and if Shearer had never taken a penalty and Cole had passed on his solitary spot kick, only seven goals separate them.

Shearer has one Premiership title to his name, Cole has five. Shearer’s experiences in Europe have been mostly with England, Cole’s partnership with Dwight Yorke — “it was just meant to be” said the former England forward — yielded 53 goals and helped Manchester United to the European Cup in the club’s historic treble season of 1998-99.

Selfish, one-dimensional, an habitual squanderer of chances then? Cole left Newcastle, where he scored 55 Premiership goals in 70 appearances, precisely because he wanted to progress from predator to both playmaker and scorer of goals.

A more relaxed figure these days, Cole is not as concerned with his place in history as he used to be, but it is clear that he believes he deserves more credit for what he has achieved, and perhaps rightly so.

“I’m not going to say I’m not going to be disappointed because I think I have achieved as much as any centre forward has in this country,” he said. “You talk about (Alan’s) record. If I had taken penalties as well and scored fifty or so, I’d have nearly as many goals as him, but people never look at it that way.”

Adulation has never been far away, but it is respect that Cole wants more than anything else. At Old Trafford this afternoon, he will get both in equal measure when he squares up to face his former employers in his new capacity as a Manchester City player.

Cole was worshipped by United supporters, unsurprising given that he scored 121 goals in 275 appearances for the club, and after grabbing the winners in City’s games against Birmingham City and Portsmouth, has already endeared himself to the blue half of Manchester.

But is he not concerned about the reaction his “defection”, separated, admittedly, by spells at Blackburn and Fulham, will generate at Old Trafford?

“I’m not going to lie and say the transition was ever going to be easy,” Cole said. “Certain people are not going to be happy because I’ve gone to the blue side of Manchester and by the same token there will be people at Manchester City not happy that I’ve played for the red side, but I don’t see it like that. I’m black, I don’t see colours. It’s work for me, it’s business. I’m at Manchester City now and I want to do my best for them, just as when I was at Manchester United I wanted to do my best for Manchester United.”