Joe Cole Joins Liverpool: The LeBron James Saga Of English Football?

It feels like deja vu. Two Countries. USA and England. Two different Sports. NBA and Football (or soccer, to most Americans). Both huge in magnitude and immensely popular.(Though on a global scale, football is arguably a bigger obsession.) Two really BIG free transfers. LeBron James and Joe Cole.

The reasons may be completely different for both the stars, but this change of team has come after long years of association for both. Incidentally, both from teams whose names start with “C”—Joe Cole from Chelsea and Le Bron from the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Of course, not everything follows similar lines. LeBron is 25 and still hasn't won anything major with the Cavaliers other than personal accolades. Joe Cole, comparatively, has won the Premier League with Chelsea more times at the age of 28 than anyone in the team's history.

Both players are essentially  heading towards opposite poles; one moving for an “economic” cause (as mentioned by his former coach Carlo Ancelotti) the other moving mainly to unite with other modern day legends and some major silverware.

Coming back to the soccer/football stuff though, Joe Cole joining Liverpool is big news. Not only for the fans and the management, but also a huge morale boost for the likes of Gerrard and Torres, who may have felt “disenchanted by the recent poor performances on the pitch.

The key duo for the Reds would also have been further worried as the club wasn’t looking competent enough in the transfer market where upcoming teams like Manchester City were constantly heaping on players of repute. Also, Liverpool can now say that they have been able to successful replace Benayoun, who is supposed to have replaced Joe Cole at Chelsea, pretty remarkably!

Joe Cole is also an English Player and very much one of those who gets along really well with Steven Gerrard. This may further rekindle hopes of challenging for the English Skipper, and thus re-enforce his focus. Fernando Torres, who had been very vocal about Liverpool needing to sign top players should also feel better with the addition of Joe Cole, though he may still want a better partner upfront.

With talks of Remy joining the Anfield outfit, it is understandable for Torres to feel soothed if such a deal really goes through. However, this transfer may be just the sign of better things to come for the club.

Joe Cole, who has often been considered the “Englishman nearest to a Brazilian” in terms of skills and technique, should be an asset to the Merseyside outfit if only he can keep his fitness levels in check. In fact, most would consider Joe Cole’s release from Chelsea a direct result of his poor commitment to fitness.

With the hiring of one of the best medical teams at Liverpool, that problem shouldn’t be much of a worry. Cole will have his medicals within the coming 48 hours and his present state of health should then be pretty clear to the medical experts.

Lastly, Joe Cole’s transfer saga hasn't been near as glamorous or dramatic as LeBron’s, but that doesn’t mean it has been any less effective for the club he has chosen to play for.

To make the perfect match at the end, Joe Cole had to choose Manchester City, which is bent on star buying much like his present employers (I admit there are spending restrictions on NBA players). As if by some rare co-incidence both would end up playing for teams starting with “M”, as LeBron went on to choose Miami Heat!

The truth is, however, stranger than fiction!