Cole is no stranger to pressures of the game at a young age after working his way up through the West Ham youth academy.

He was touted as one of the hottest talents in English football as a youngster and quickly progressed through the ranks at West Ham to make his first team debut at the age of 17.

Cole received national media attention as he shone in the England youth team as well as helping the Hammers win the FA Youth Cup in 1999.

But he was allowed to progress unhindered in the West Ham first team and learned his trade, both on and off the pitch, before moving to Chelsea in 2003 for £6.6 million.

Now Cole wants Kakuta to continue his progress without the pressures of the modern game affecting him.

The youngster was at the forefront of the headlines when FIFA initially banned Chelsea from signing any new players until 2011 after the English club were found guilty of inducing Kakuta to breach his contract with Lens two years ago.

Kakuta was also banned for four months by FIFA but the punishments were suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport until Chelsea's appeal case is heard in full.

That ruling has allowed Kakuta to break into the Chelsea first team and the youngster made his first full start for the Blues in their 2-2 Champions League draw with APOEL in midweek.

Kakuta was particularly impressive and was even handed special praise by coach Carlo Ancelotti. Now Cole says the France youngster should be allowed to enjoy his football without any outside pressures.

"He has a lot of skill and has a big future for Chelsea and France, but we need to keep the pressure off him, have him play a game here and a game there and enjoy his football," said Cole.

"He should not have too much pressure on him. He has all the talent in the world and just wants to learn. He's very intelligent, he knows what he wants and is a really big player for the future, but we need to keep the pressure off him so he can keep learning."

The 18-year-old played the first 72 minutes against APOEL but despite the praise from Ancelotti, Kakuta was disappointed not to end the game with a win.

"It's the first game I started and I wanted to win the game, so it's hard but you just have to keep going, I was in the action, and that was good for me," said Kakuta.

"The manager said I would start the game and that's a good thing for me. I have been waiting since I was young."

Meanwhile another Chelsea youngster to break into the first team this season, defender Jeffrey Bruma, 18, insists he will not be disappointed if he does not make Holland's World Cup squad for the finals in South Africa next summer.

There have already been calls back in his homeland for the Holland Under-21 star to be elevated to the senior squad but Bruma says he is only concentrating on Chelsea.

"TV programmes and newspapers are pushing the manager to take me to the World Cup but I am not really listening to it," said Bruma.

"I am trying to focus on the under-21s and Chelsea. For me it is still far away at the moment. I have heard the manager is following me and it is a nice thing to hear but I definitely won't be disappointed if I am not going."