Liverpool have won the race to sign England midfielder Joe Cole on a free transfer from Chelsea.

Cole had been out of contract with the Stamford Bridge club and signs a four year deal for the Anfield club.

The former West Ham academy graduate reportedly had offers from Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and even Manchester United however opted to join Roy Hodgson at Liverpool, who failed to qualify for the Champions League this season.

He is the Reds’ second summer signing after they signed Standard Liege’s Serbian forward Milan Jovanovic on a three-year deal.

“It is not financial and it is nothing to do with Carlo,” Cole said at the time of his decision to leave Chelsea. “I love Carlo. I think he is a top guy and a top manager.

“I loved my time at Chelsea, I love the fans but it is a story for another day and I will tell it but now is not the time.”

“Next season I want to have a fantastic season for England and whatever club I am at. The next contract will be a footballing decision,” he added earlier in June.

“I want to play in a more central position and I want a manager who has faith in me.”

Ex-Liverpool defender Alan Kennedy said of Cole:

“I’m delighted for the club. Roy Hodgson has persuaded one of the best English players in the game to come in and that will only be good news for the club and for the players the club are looking to hold on to.

“I’m sure Roy and Liverpool can get the best out of Joe again, and hopefully it will result in the club pushing back up the league and targeting silverware again.

“I’ve been an admirer of Joe’s for the last few years. He is a player that excites fans and he is a player that we desperately needed.

“We know Joe had a lot of options, especially from London, but he’s looked at Liverpool and maybe thought to himself that he is the guy who can resurrect the club after what was a terrible season last year.

“Credit for that has to go to Roy Hodgson, I believe – he is a very persuasive man and a man well respected in football, so that’s fantastic news.”

And former Red legend Ian Rush added; “Liverpool might not have been successful as we would have liked to have been recently but this shows we can still attract top name players, whether that’s an England international or a foreign international.

“This is the signing supporters wanted and it’s a big boost for them.

“You look at last season when we went into it not hoping but thinking we were going to win the league. This season people are thinking, ‘Are we going to finish in the top four?’

“I think this sends a sign out to Liverpool supporters that the club do mean business.”

Jon Osterland