'Just couldn't do it' - ex-Liverpool ace admits snubbing Tottenham before agreeing Anfield move

Joe Cole has revealed he should have moved abroad instead of joining Liverpool in 2010. At the time, those at Anfield were excited about signing a seasoned Chelsea and England star on a free transfer. Steven Gerrard famously claimed Cole was "Just as good, if not better” than Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.

But Cole would prove a flop during three injury-hit years on Merseyside. He played just 26 Premier League games for the Reds, with a successful loan move to Lille failing to kick-start his time at the club.

The latter years of his career fizzled out, with a return to West Ham United before joining Aston Villa, Coventry City and the Tampa Bay Rowdies across the pond. Speaking on former Chelsea teammate John Obi Mikel’s podcast, Cole admitted he wishes he moved to a warmer climate once he left Stamford Bridge.

“I had a choice between Liverpool or Spurs because Arsenal pulled out and I just couldn’t go to Spurs,” he said. “It would have made sense. Harry Redknapp was the manager and they had a good team, I lived in London and 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 helped my knee.

“Because after that I went to Liverpool, West Ham, Villa. I had a good season in France, but with my knee, I was just managing my injuries. I never played for England again after 2010.

“Then when I went to America, it was like a miracle. Living in the sun, my knee was like 60-70%. It’s still not right now but I could play. It was like a miracle. If I could have hindsight, I would have gone abroad somewhere hot, maybe Spain or Southern Italy somewhere, and I think I could have played at the top level for a little bit longer.”