8 months ago
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Signing for Liverpool often can be a player's dream come true but not for one star, who won three Premier League titles.
Chelsea legend Joe Cole was renowned for his gobsmacking skill and dribbling ability, often weaving in and out of defenders with impressive control.
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It helped the Blues claim three Premier League titles while he operated on the flank in his seven seasons at Stamford Bridge.
However, in his latter years, injuries started to hit the ex-England international hard and he ended up making a shock move to Liverpool in 2010.
Tottenham had also been in the running for the winger - the easy option for location. With hindsight, Cole wished he'd gone abroad to a warmer climate to help with his knee issues.
"I done my knee and that was probably the start of the end of my career because I was never the same player after that," he told former teammate John Obi Mikel on The Obi One podcast.
"Something clicked and I thought to myself, 'I'm never going to get back to the player I was. I've got to leave'.
"Because I didn't want to finish my Chelsea career just sitting there on the injury table."
Roy Hodgson, then manager of Liverpool, convinced the West Ham academy graduate to make the move up north - the first time he had left London in his club career.
Taking home £90,000-a-week, Cole was one of several signings who ultimately didn't work out at Anfield, including Jonjo Shelvey, Paul Konchesky, Christian Poulson and Milan Jovanovic.
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"I had a choice between Liverpool or Spurs because Arsenal pulled out - I just couldn't go to Spurs," he added.
"It would have made sense, Harry Redknapp was the manager, they had a good team, I lived in London, half my pals are Spurs fans. I just couldn't do it.
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"Liverpool is a great club. It didn't work for me there but it is a fantastic club.
"But if I could have my time again, I would probably go abroad, somewhere hot, because playing in the heat actually helped my knee."
Over three years, Cole played 42 times for Liverpool in all competitions and scored just five goal, even going on loan to Lille for one season in 2011/12.
In 2013, he made an emotional return to West Ham whom he left in 2003, but could not recapture his form at Chelsea.
Further stints in the latter day of his career included moves to Aston Villa, Coventry and the MLS with Tampa Ray Rowdies before retiring from playing.
