Cole going home to the Hammers
JOE COLE will join West Ham this week after snubbing a QPR relegation battle with former manager Harry Redknapp. On the day Liverpool completed the signing of £12million Daniel Sturridge from Chelsea, Anfield misfit Cole agreed a deal to rejoin the Hammers, his boyhood club, on a free transfer. Cole was left with the gut-wrenching choice between a move to West Ham or a reunion with Redknapp, who gave him his senior debut in 1999. QPR, who at the beginning of the week were
convinced they had Cole’s signature wrapped up, spent yesterday in a desperate bid to revive the deal, but West Ham offered a more lucrative financial package. Cole will arrive at Upton Park on a free transfer after his advisers settled a severance package with Liverpool over the remaining 18 months of his £90,000-per-week contract. The 31-year-old was having a medical last night and could be available for Saturday’s game against Manchester United. As Cole was exiting Anfield, new signing Sturridge made a low-key entrance, but still could not contain his excitement after describing Liverpool as a ‘humongous’ club. Sturridge was expected to take a bow on the pitch before last night’s clash with Sunderland, but instead settled for a seat in the directors’ box after completing his move from Chelsea on a contract worth around £80,000 a week. ‘I have signed to be here for as long as possible,’ he said. ‘It is a humongous club — for me, one of the biggest in the world. I have never made any demands about which position I should play. Whatever the manager wants me to do, I will do it and work as hard as I can for the club and fans.’