The 29-year-old has spent seven seasons at Upton Park but struggled for form in 2012-13, scoring only twice.

Cole’s future at the club appeared in doubt as the club have agreed a fee to sign Andy Carroll on a permanent deal.

West Ham manager Sam Allardyce said: “Carlton’s need at his age is to be playing football as often as he can. We felt it better he found pastures new.”

Cole, who has seven England caps, joined West Ham from Chelsea in 2006.

His last goal for the club was in a home defeat by Everton last December and he indicated on Tuesday on Twitter that he would be looking for a new club.

He said:  “Life is filled with ups and downs – today is a down but I’ll be back! Carlton Cole has left the building.

“I came to east London not knowing what to expect but I’m glad I did. The last 7 years I’ve met a lot of good honest decent people. Thank you.”

His departure was confirmed on the club’s official website  on Wednesday.

West Ham’s joint chairman David Gold tweeted:  “Good luck @CarltonCole1 – one of the nicest men I’ve ever met in football.”

Meanwhile, the club have announced they are still in talks with midfielder Gary O’Neil, 30, over a new deal.

Allardyce said: “For Gary, negotiations are ongoing and that will be done between the chairmen and his agent now.”

Roberto Mancini was finally sacked on Monday night as Manchester City manager, a year to the day after he led the club to a first championship in 44 years. The owners said the Italian’s failure to meet any of his targets this season, with the exception of qualifying for the Champions League, had led to his dismissal.

The dramatic Sergio Agüero strike that won the title last May secured Mancini a lucrative five-year contract worth around £35m and a mandate to build City into an ongoing force. But 12 months on Mancini is unemployed, with the Abu Dhabi-led executive’s decision to remove him coming after they allowed him to limp on when news broke on the eve of Saturday’s FA Cup final with Wigan Athletic that they were in advanced discussions with Málaga’s Manuel Pellegrini, who is almost certain to replace him.

Although on Monday morning Pellegrini denied he had reached an agreement with City, discussions between the club and his agent, Jesús Martínez, regarding financial terms and contractual clauses are at the stage where a deal is ready to be signed. This should now be a formality.

The Chilean is likely to start his new role at the turn of the month after City said the assistant manager Brian Kidd will “take interim responsibility for the remaining two games of the season and the post-season tour to the United States”.

Until the announcement confirming Mancini’s removal, posted on the club website at 10.22pm, City had not issued any public comment since indications began that the manager’s job was in doubt. This had cast the Italian as an increasingly isolated figure, with it becoming a matter of when not if he would lose his job.

The statement said: “It is with regret that Manchester City football club announces that Roberto Mancini has been relieved of his duties as Manchester City manager. This has been a difficult decision for the owner, chairman and board to make and it is the outcome of a planned end-of-season review process that has been brought forward in light of recent speculation and out of respect for Roberto and his extensive contributions to the football club.

“Despite everyone’s best efforts, the club has failed to achieve any of its stated targets this year, with the exception of qualification for next season’s Uefa Champions League. This, combined with an identified need to develop a holistic approach to all aspects of football at the club, has meant that the decision has been taken to find a new manager for the 2013-14 season and beyond.”

The reference to a “holistic approach” suggests a sea change in philosophy from top to bottom of the club, driven by the chief executive, Ferran Soriano, and Txiki Begiristain, the director of football. This may include playing 4-3-3 throughout the academy and in the first team. Following the removal of Mancini, who could be a divisive figure, there may also be a hope that the club will be more cohesive.

Khaldoon al-Mubarak, the chairman, said: “Roberto’s record speaks for itself and he has the respect and gratitude of Sheikh Mansour [the owner], myself and the board for all of his hard work and commitment over the last three and a half years. He has clearly also secured the love and respect of our fans. He has done as he promised and delivered silverware and success, breaking the club’s 35-year trophy drought [winning the 2011 Cup] and securing the title in 2012. I would like to personally and publicly thank him for his dedication to the progress that he has overseen and for his support and continued friendship.”

Before the club’s pursuit of Pellegrini emerged, the plan was for Mancini to end the season and have a review in the emirate. This would have been led by Mubarak and included Soriano and Begiristain.

Mubarak and his team were adamant that if it were decided to let Mancini go, there should be a candidate in place who had agreed terms and would be ready to take over. This was the strategy under which Pellegrini was approached.

With regard to Mancini’s position being all but untenable before he was removed, City were in precisely the same position when he became manager in 2009. Then, it was common knowledge that he would supersede the incumbent, Mark Hughes as the Welshman took charge of the club’s match with Sunderland on 19 December. Following a 4-3 win, Hughes was sacked.

City intend to make cuts lower down the club, too, with an extensive sacking programme. Soriano and Begiristain have decided the faults in the existing coaching staff go all the way to youth level and will make their point ruthlessly.

The Scot, 71, has won 38 trophies since taking over from Ron Atkinson on 6 November 1986, including this season’s Premier League title.

His haul includes 13 titles, two Champions League crowns, five FA Cups and four League Cups.

“The decision to retire is one that I have thought a great deal about. It is the right time,” Ferguson said.

“It was important to me to leave an organisation in the strongest possible shape and I believe I have done so.

“The quality of this league-winning squad, and the balance of ages within it, bodes well for continued success at the highest level whilst the structure of the youth set-up will ensure that the long-term future of the club remains a bright one.”

Ferguson, who will take on the dual role of director and ambassador for United, praised the people he felt helped him build the club into one of the biggest in the world

“I must pay tribute to my family, their love and support has been essential,” he added.

“My wife Cathy has been the key figure throughout my career, providing a bedrock of both stability and encouragement. Words are not enough to express what this has meant to me.

“As for my players and staff, past and present, I would like to thank them all for a staggering level of professional conduct and dedication that has helped to deliver so many memorable triumphs. Without their contribution the history of this great club would not be as rich.

“In my early years, the backing of the board, and Sir Bobby Charlton in particular, gave me the confidence and time to build a football club, rather than just a football team.

“Over the past decade, the Glazer family have provided me with the platform to manage Manchester United to the best of my ability and I have been extremely fortunate to have worked with a talented and trustworthy Chief Executive in David Gill. I am truly grateful to all of them.

“To the fans, thank you. The support you have provided over the years has been truly humbling. It has been an honour and an enormous privilege to have had the opportunity to lead your club and I have treasured my time as manager of Manchester United.”

Ferguson is the most successful manager in the history of the British game and famously won a treble in 1999.

He is undergoing a hip operation during the summer.

Bookmakers have made Everton manager David Moyes odds-on favourite to take over at Old Trafford.

The Scot is out of contract in the summer at Goodison Park having delayed talks on a new deal until the end of the season.

Ferguson gave no indication he was thinking over his future when writing Sunday’s programme notes against Chelsea.

He said: “I certainly don’t have any plans at the moment to walk away from what I believe will be something special.”

But rumours of his retirement filtered out after the club’s end-of-season players versus coaches golf day at Dunham Massey, Greater Manchester on Tuesday afternoon.

Wigan came up with the unexpected once again in their penultimate home fixture, failing to escape the bottom three before their Wembley weekend by losing what appeared the most winnable of their final three matches. Roberto Martínez’s old team Swansea picked up their first win in eight matches to allow people in places such as Newcastle and Norwich to sleep a little more easily, though so abysmal was Wigan’s defending in a game they ought to have been psyched up for it made one fearful of what may happen in their real Cup final on Saturday.

Certainly Swansea will have played better than this and lost in recent months, and although Wigan still have a theoretical chance of surviving based on their track record of escapes, the evidence suggests they have not only forgotten how to defend but run out of reliable defenders.

Wigan are so short in that area that Roger Espinoza had to be pressed into service at left wing-back, a position from where he mistimed a pass to Paul Scharner in the third minute and let in Wayne Routledge for the game’s first shot on target, comfortably dealt with by Joel Robles.

The home side were beginning to dominate the game as the midpoint of the first half approached, though when the visitors did push forward they almost caught Wigan napping. A good run by Routledge had come to an end by the time Gary Caldwell got an unnecessary touch to the ball, which Robles had committed himself to collecting. The referee, Kevin Friend, deemed it a back-pass and gave a free-kick eight yards in front of goal, though another chapter in Wigan’s bulging book of erratic defending was avoided when Ashley Williams’ eventual shot sailed skywards over the bar.

Arouna Koné forced a save from Michel Vorm as Wigan began to pile on the pressure, though the incisive passing that served them so well at West Bromwich Albion was largely absent and goalmouth incidents were few and far between, let alone clearcut chances. Wigan play a patient game under Martínez, but Swansea are familiar with that approach too and, unlike the home side, were not greeted with yelps of anxiety from their own fans every time they moved the ball backwards or dallied a fraction too long in defence.

Nevertheless it was going backwards that resulted in Wigan’s breakthrough on the stroke of the interval. The ball went all the way back to Caldwell as the first half entered stoppage time, before reaching the right wing where Ben Watson launched a deep cross towards Koné at the far post. Vorm left his line to punch clear, only to find Espinoza just inside the area, for the Honduran to supply an excellent first-time finish with a left-foot volley through a crowd of players to register his first Premier League goal.

Encouraged by some wayward Wigan positioning Swansea increased the urgency at the start of the second half to win a couple of quick corners, before silencing the home crowd with an equalising goal of genuine quality. Routledge’s diagonal ball to split the Wigan defence was impressive enough, as was Angel Rangel’s skill at staying onside, but the right-foot volley that beat Robles off his far post was even better than Espinoza’s effort.

Wigan these days do not let such minor setbacks deter them and within three minutes they were back in front. This time Caldwell supplied a diagonal ball forward along the floor, picking out James McCarthy’s run for the midfielder to put a low shot under Vorm. That should have been that, and perhaps would have been had James McArthur managed to touch in Koné’s cross from the left, but Wigan invited Swansea back into the game on the hour when Caldwell gave the ball away in his own half. With the entire backline out of position Emmerson Boyce had to come in from the right to challenge Itay Shechter, only succeeding in deflecting the striker’s shot so that once again Robles was beaten from the edge of the area.

Vorm produced an outstanding save to deny Caldwell from Shaun Maloney’s corner as Wigan sought to take the lead a third time, but Swansea were beginning to produce panic in the home defence every time they crossed halfway.

The winning goal was another home defensive horror story, with McArthur and Maloney failing to deal with a Pablo Hernández cross in the absence of any real centre-backs, and Dwight Tiendalli turning the ball over the line. You cannot really expect to stay in the Premier League if you give away goals like that, and Wigan probably won’t.

“They will need to win both their last two games to survive,” was Michael Laudrup’s opinion. Martínez agreed. “We won’t throw in the towel, but we can’t keep shooting ourselves in the foot,” the Wigan manager said, mixing his cliches to pleasing effect.

By the end, it was a throwback to happier times for Chelsea. Their place in the Europa League final had been confirmed and, however much a downgrade it is compared with last season’s glories, they will cherish the opportunity to bring another trophy back to Stamford Bridge at the end of a difficult, sometimes chaotic season.

They had kept their nerve even when Basel took the lead at the end of the first half to engulf the stadium with a sense of foreboding. Rafael Benítez’s players cleared their heads during the break and their response in the second half was reminiscent of those intoxicating Champions League nights when they simply refused to bend.

It brought them three goals in the space of nine minutes and the third, from David Luiz, will be remembered as one of the more stunning finishes Stamford Bridge has witnessed for some time. Over the two legs they had deserved to go through and, though it is a strange mix of politics at this club, Benítez will probably not be too offended that a date against Benfica in Amsterdam on 15 May had been booked and it was the name of José Mourinho that was being sung.

The serenading began from the Matthew Harding stand inside the first few minutes and, for long spells, it was the soundtrack to the night. “José’s coming home,” they sang. The message was loud and clear but at least from Benítez’s perspective the mood is very different from the mutinies he encountered earlier in the season. An unofficial ceasefire has been called and, however unfashionable it might be in these parts to offer Benítez any credence, he probably deserves some slack.

The only slight disappointment for Chelsea’s supporters was that Frank Lampard could not equal Bobby Tambling’s record of 202 goals for the club. Lampard hit the post early on, fired in the shot that led to Fernando Torres scoring the equaliser and, maybe trying a little too hard, put a late free-kick into the stand as the crowd implored him to add to the sense of occasion.

Overall, however, it constituted a satisfying evening, not least as Chelsea managed to win without the torn emotions of losing anyone for the final for totting up too many yellow cards. Roberto Di Matteo was deprived of four players for the Champions League final against Bayern Munich last May. The same number were vulnerable here but Benítez sensibly substituted David Luiz and Ramires. Ryan Bertrand avoided the dreaded booking and the fourth player, Mikel John Obi, was not involved at all. Benfica are refined opponents but, with a full squad, Chelsea will fancy their chances.

They had begun like a team in a hurry but their wayward finishing – one effort from Torres went out for a throw-in, reminiscent of a golfer slicing on to the wrong fairway – encouraged Basel to come back at them before half-time, culminating in Mohamed Salah opening the scoring. The Swiss champions had been growing in confidence but it was a bad goal to concede, stemming from a basic inability to hold a defensive line. Valentin Stocker’s pass was beautifully weighted and Salah ran off Branislav Ivanovic to clip a left-foot shot past Petr Cech.

At half-time Chelsea’s supporters might have been forgiven for bracing themselves for a nerve-shredding 45 minutes. Instead, the team’s response was hugely impressive. Eden Hazard, in particular, was tremendous, always willing to carry the ball forward, displaying some lovely touches and playing with the cutting edge that justified Benítez’s decision to start with Juan Mata on the bench, keeping the Spaniard back for Sunday’s game at Manchester United.

Hazard was instrumental in the equaliser, collecting the ball just inside the Basel half and then bursting between two players and accelerating away. His speed and movement took him beyond another challenge and when he was tackled the ball broke to Lampard just outside the penalty area. Yann Sommer, the Basel goalkeeper, kept out Lampard’s left-foot drive but Torres was following up and first to the rebound.

A sense of relief lifted the tension that had built during the interval and two minutes later the game swung decisively in Chelsea’s favour as Moses surged infield from the left, played it to Torres and continued his own run into the penalty area. Torres scuffed his shot but the ball broke kindly for Moses. Fabian Schär smothered the first attempt but Moses made no mistake when the ball popped up for him to have a second crack.

Suddenly it was as if Chelsea had been shed of inhibition. David Luiz’s goal deserves all the superlatives that will come with it: a dipping, curling left-foot effort into the top corner from Lampard’s layoff 25 yards out. The shot was a combination of swerve, audacity and expertise but no one should be too surprised. A few moments earlier, he had tried to catch Sommer off his line by lofting a shot from his own half that was only a foot or so too high.

Chelsea had played with great confidence and the Brazilian, in his new midfield role, had scored a goal to grace the occasion.