Hot on the heels of our article discussing free transfer possibilities yesterday, the rumour mill has identified Joe Cole as a possible target for Villa this summer. The suggestion is that Liverpool would be willing to release Cole for nothing at the end of the season following his inspired loan spell at Ligue 1 outfit Lille.
The real question has to be why Liverpool would release him for nothing? Cole is contracted to Villa’s looming weekend opponents until June 2014 and his performances have courted interest from other European sides, not least the reinvigorated PSG. Indeed, Cole’s stock has risen somewhat having sought to knuckle down and work to re-find his early career and pre-injury form. This is to Cole’s credit, but is certainly not to Aston Villa’s advantage.
A further stumbling block would also be Joe Cole’s reported £90,000 a week wage. As Villa are in a process of consolidating expenditure it would seem hard to justify or indeed reason that investing in Cole would be worthwhile. On the other hand, with Heskey’s presumed release freeing up an estimated £50,000 per week, maybe room could be found to accommodate this in part?
Whilst Joe Cole would be welcome at Villa Park in the light of our midfield woes, the possibility of this happening seems highly unlikely.