Joe Cole switches from Stamford Bridge to Anfield
One of the most sought after players in the transfer market Joe Cole has been snapped up by Liverpool. The Reds are believed to have made a 4 year contract with the English midfielder. Cole is expected to go through his medical in next 48 hours to officially complete the move.
The deal looks to be a sweet one for Liverpool as Joe Cole was a free agent transfer having ended his contract at Chelsea in the season gone by. Hence, Liverpool signed Cole on a free transfer.
The 28 year old held talks with the Reds board and came to a decision after negotiating personal terms and conditions.
Joe Cole was released by Chelsea before the World Cup alongside Michael Ballack. Since then there had many speculations and rumours linking Cole to several big clubs like Manchester United, Arsenal, Real Madrid and even Barcelona. However, Cole had said that he would like to remain in England so it was down to Arsenal, Liverpool or Manchester United and finally he chose Liverpool. Manchester United though did not officially approach him either.
It did come as somewhat of a surprise since Liverpool will not be part of the Champions League this season, which is the aim of every highly ranked player. For now Liverpool would be featuring in Europa League. Neverheless, Cole has said that he believes in the long term plans of the club and has immense faith in the new Boss Roy Hodgson.
The signature of Cole is seen as a big move by Liverpool in order to keep hold of their big names. Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres were rumoured to be thinking of a move while Hodgson was adamant that the club will be able to attract big names despite lack of Champions League football. The addition of a player like Joe Cole would certainly go a long way towards convincing the star names at Liverpool that the plans are long term.
Joe Cole is the 2nd signing by Liverpool in the transfer window; Serbian striker Milan Jovanovic joined the reds also on a free transfer following his end of contract at Standard Liege.
Joe Cole is expected to fill in the void left by the Israeli midfielder Yossi Benayoun who ironically made a move to Chelsea for 5.5 million pounds in the beginning of July. It would be interesting to see which of the two deals turn out to be better.
The new Liverpool boss Roy Hodgson is still trying to find a left back, following the departure of Fabio Aurelio and also considering that Emiliano Insua is all but set to leave for Fiorentina.
After all of that Hodgson would be hoping that he would have total commitment from his 2 biggest stars, Gerrard and Torres that they are not going anywhere and will stick around for the long haul.
Jamie Redknapp, the former Liverpool player, said that his father Harry Redknapp was also keen to sign Joe Cole, and there were rumours that Cole was looking to find the most lucrative deal in terms of money. Jamie said these claims are not true and Cole would have chosen a club with Champions League rather than going for cash and glory.
Jamie said that Cole was only interested in a club where he would see himself in the long run; the best thing about him was that he was not bound by a contract and was a free agent. So he had the power to make the best decision for himself. Jamie added that even though the details of the contract are yet to be revealed but he does not expect to hear an insane sum of money regarding his wages.
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