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Why Joe Cole Will Go To United

I’ve spent weeks, months even, arguing with myself and anyone else who’d listen – partly because I’m as stubborn as they come but mainly because I didn’t want to concede the possibility but today, TheChelseaBlog has to give in and admit it really is starting to look as if it’s just a matter of time before Joe Cole leaves Chelsea now.

That pains me for two reasons: the first being I’m in for a lot of stick after the verbal fight I’ve put up and the second because we stand to lose a bloody good player and it all feels a bit wrong somehow.

You’ll have to bear with me if I sound like I have a split personality here but it’s a conundrum I’ve yet to get straight in my own head. You see, I’ve spent the last couple of seasons bemoaning the fact that Joe Cole, like no other Chelsea (or England) player, has had to prove himself time and time again – and he’s done it. He’s been a loyal and honest player for us for years and whilst I accept he’s really struggled to come back anywhere near his best since coming back from his cruciate injury, I think he’s being written off too easily.

But here’s the dilemma, because whilst I’ve already said I fully appreciate that what Abramovich wants in terms of wage structure at the club now, surely that should really only apply to the over 30s? At 28, you know Cole’s far from past his best, so if the reported 12-month extension at £36,000 a week is all that’s been put on the table for him, then you’d have to say it’s insulting.

So, I think it’s fair to say Joe Cole will walk away from Chelsea (in the physical sense at least) in the summer, but where will he end up?

Well, if he was a player motivated by money then it’d be a no-brainer because despite City’s deluded supporters previously suggesting Cole ‘isn’t good enough’ for their squad, I suspect Mancini would take him in a heartbeat. Firstly because he’d do a damn sight better than their previous playmaker and wouldn’t sod off to Brazil when he’s bored with Manchester and secondly because Fergie wants him and City seem to bid for just about every player us or United fancy.

But Joe Cole isn’t stupid, neither is he a mercenary and whilst some might argue he’d accept whatever is on offer if he really wants to stay at Chelsea as much as he says he does, the reality is, in being asked to accept less than a third of what some of our ageing players earn when he knows he’s the one having to work his arse off every time a new manager comes in (whilst others’ poor form is often overlooked), suggests the club don’t value him in quite the same way.

That’s why he won’t be going to City. Why on earth would he want to go to another club where the manager is likely to change as frequently as the shirts? Where he’d be surrounded by players competing just as much for salaries as they are places. Besides, Joe Cole needs (and deserves) to be playing at the highest level and that’s unlikely to happen under City next season – it also rules Spurs out fortunately.

Less fortunately though – for us at least – is that Joe Cole will get exactly what he needs at Manchester United. If Joe Cole gets games and has a manager who believes in him, he thrives. Fergie wants him at United and Cole will be in no doubt of that by now. A no-nonsense manager who’ll push Cole to achieve and acknowledge his worth when he does. So if Chelsea are hell-bent on leaving Cole without an alternative, why would he go anywhere else but a club that could offer him everything he wants?

Gutted but resigned.

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