JOE COLE has revealed he regrets leaving Chelsea to sign for Liverpool.
The ex-England star moved to Anfield in 2010 after seven years with the Blues.
Cole was a club legend, having own won three Premier League titles and two FA Cups.
But in his final years at Stamford Bridge, he saw his minutes diminish due to a serious knee injury.
Cole was in and out the side then decided to quit for Liverpool as he refused to move to London rivals Tottenham.
The winger had a nightmare spell with the Reds, scoring just five goals in 42 games and he was even loaned out to Lille.
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He eventually left with Liverpool ripping up his contract.
Opening up on his decision to leave Chelsea, Cole told The Obi One podcast: “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 – I was out for 11 months.
“Chelsea were right, from a business perspective. They stopped contract negotiations to see how I was when I came back.
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“I came back in October. By this time, Carlo Ancelotti had come into the club, I was coming in off the bench, playing well, but it was hard to break back into the team.
“The guys went away to the Africa Cup of Nations in the January. I knew I’d have a chance to play regularly.
“I played every game, six, seven or eight games in a row, played really well and then they started, ‘we can offer you this new contract’, but it wasn’t at what it was before.
“My ego got involved a little bit and football was more of a struggle. I would play and my knee would blow up. I was in a lot of pain.
“We would win a game but I couldn’t train for three or four days afterwards. I really wrecked myself. That’s how my body was after it.
“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.
“I had a choice between Liverpool or Spurs because Arsenal pulled out – I just couldn’t go to Spurs.
“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.
“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.”
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Cole ended up rejoining boyhood club West Ham after leaving Liverpool.
He went on to play for Aston Villa, Coventry and Tampa Bay Rowdies before retiring in 2018.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
