"I’d have gone abroad, somewhere hot" - Ex-Chelsea star admits he regrets Liverpool transfer

Football pundit and former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has admitted that he has regrets about his move to Liverpool back in 2010.

Cole spent seven hugely successful seasons with the Blues after joining from West Ham in August 2003. The Englishman played 281 times across competitions for the London giants, recording 39 goals and 45 assists. He won three Premier League titles, three FA Cups and two EFL Cups with the team.

Cole's final two seasons with Chelsea were hampered by a tear in his cruciate ligament. His contract expired in 2010 and Liverpool took a punt on the then soon-to-be 30-year-old, signing him on a free transfer.

Cole has now explained that he was in contract negotiations with the Blues before his injury, but that he understands why they pulled the plug on an extension. He added that he regrets his move to Anfield as playing in warmer weather conditions would have helped his knee.

The footballer-turned-pundit said on his former Chelsea teammate John Obi Mikel's The Obi One podcast (as quoted by the Mirror):

"(Contract) negotiations started and we were getting there, but then I done my knee. I was nearly 29 or just turned 29 (when I left). 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. I done everything, ACL, PCL, MCL, and I was out for 11 months.

"It hurt me but in hindsight, Chelsea were right, from a business perspective. They stopped the negotiations to see how I was when I came back... So from being in a really strong position to negotiate a contract, doing my knee, Chelsea pulled back from negotiations."

Cole added that he had offers from Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool, but chose the latter:

"I had a choice between Liverpool or Spurs because Arsenal pulled out and I just couldn't go to Spurs. I just couldn't go. 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.

"My daughter was just born and Liverpool is a great club. It didn't work for me there but it is a fantastic club, an institution globally. But if I could have my time again, I would probably go, ‘No, you know what, wait.’ And I’d have gone abroad, somewhere hot, because playing in the heat actually helped my knee."

Injuries limited Cole to just 20 Premier League appearances in his debut season with the Reds, with meagre returns of two goals and an assist. He was then loaned out to Ligue 1 club Lille, where he discovered some form, recording nine goals and six assists in 43 matches across competitions in the 2011-12 season.

The Englishman returned to Liverpool in 2012, but was loaned out to West Ham United the following January after playing just 10 matches in the first half of the season.

Overall, Cole played just 42 times for the Reds, recording five goals and three assists before joining the Hammers on a free transfer in 2013.

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Former Chelsea star Joe Cole's career trajectory after leaving Liverpool

Joe Cole scored three times in 20 Premier League matches for West Ham United during the 2013-14 season. He then joined Aston Villa on a free transfer, but a hamstring injury limited him to just 12 league appearances that campaign.

Midway through the 2015-16 season, Villa sold him to Coventry City in League Two. Cole impressed during his stint there, recording two goals and six assists in 22 league games.

At the end of the season, he joined the Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship in the USA. Cole made 86 appearances for the team between 2016 and 2018, racking up 20 goals and 14 assists, before hanging up his boots.

He has since become a pundit and currently works for TNT Sports. The former Chelsea and Liverpool midfielder has also featured on podcasts such as Rio Ferdinand Presents FIVE and That Peter Crouch Podcast.