Joe Cole returning to be a Liverpool player again, say Lille
Joe Cole has been told he will return to Liverpool next season, according to French club Lille, who have abandoned their efforts to sign him on a permanent deal.
In the red: Joe Cole will return to Liverpool to try and impress new manager Bredan Rodgers Photo: REUTERS
11:00PM BST 05 Jun 2012
Cole spent last season on loan at Lille and the clubs were negotiating a long-term transfer before Kenny Dalglish left Anfield.
Lille's coach Rudi Garcia said his club had been told that the new Liverpool manager, Brendan Rodgers, wanted to keep the 30 year-old.
"Joe Cole will stay at Liverpool," Garcia said. "The new staff has decided to keep him. We will keep very good memories of the player but also of the man."
Cole has expressed his desire for a fresh start on Merseyside, where he floundered under Roy Hodgson and then found himself surplus to Dalglish's requirements.
Rodgers has made it clear every member of the squad will be given a chance to impress in pre-season.
Cole will still need to prove himself to Rodgers to be certain of remaining beyond the short-term, particularly given his £90,000-a-week salary, but the duo have a good relationship from their time together at Chelsea.
While Rodgers continues to assess his playing resources, Liverpool's managing director Ian Ayre has called Wigan Athletic chairman Dave Whelan "the best comedian in the north west" for his daily updates during Liverpool's search for a manager.
Whelan was readily accessible to the media while his manager was being courted by Fenway Sports Group, but his ongoing commentary clearly upset the Liverpool hierarchy, particularly when it was suggested that Roberto MartÃnez had been offered the job before Rodgers.
"Our aim from the outset was to conduct a proper, thorough, search and do it in the proper manner," Ayre told the Liverpool Echo. "From our point of view, we did all the right things. We approached the clubs we needed to approach, and conducted ourselves properly at all times.
"It is disappointing, then, that Dave Whelan felt the need to run the kind of sideshow he conducted via Sky Sports News and various other media outlets. To be honest, I always thought John Bishop was the biggest comedian in the north west but Dave Whelan seems to have taken that mantle over the last couple of weeks."
Whelan responded with a joke of his own: "He's the fella who said the top-six clubs should share most of the Premier League TV revenue isn't he? He is obviously very knowledgeable about football.
"Liverpool have got themselves a very good manager and I wish him good luck. I'm delighted Roberto is staying at Wigan. We'll leave it at that."
Meanwhile, outgoing Liverpool striker Dirk Kuyt said he felt humbled by the messages of goodwill he had received since announcing his departure.
The popular Dutchman's six-year spell ended two days ago when he signed for Fenerbahce.
"My last season at Liverpool wasn't the best one," Kuyt said. "I thought that I should have played more, so, after six years, I just had a feeling I needed to change something in my career, a new experience, a new country, new people around me, and that's why I made the decision to leave.
"I had a great time and I had great team-mates. The club was great, the people were great and the people from Liverpool – the text messages, the phone calls, the emails, all the tweets I had – it's unbelievable how much respect they showed me and it's also a bit emotional.
"They wished me good luck and they said that they will miss me."
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