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• Decision to move to Anfield a ‘no-brainer’
• Midfielder ‘jumped on board’ after hearing plans

Joe Cole today completed his free transfer from Chelsea to Liverpool and immediately risked upsetting his former employer by provocatively claiming he had joined “the biggest club in the country”. The England international, who has signed a four-year contract, dismissed suggestions that money was the motivation for moving to Liverpool and insisted that swapping Stamford Bridge for Anfield was purely a football decision.

Cole went on to describe Liverpool as a “massive club” and claimed the prospect of running out on a regular basis at the stadium that left such an indelible mark on him in 2005, when he was part of the Chelsea side defeated 1-0 in the Champions League semi-final second leg during an electric night at Anfield, was too good to turn down. Yet it is his remarks suggesting Liverpool represent a step up from Chelsea that will spark the most interest, particularly at Stamford Bridge.

“I tried to take everything out of the equation, take the financial and location side out and just thought in football terms,” Cole said, explaining how he arrived at his decision. “I thought about the semi-final of the Champions League in 2005 when I ran on to the field and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. I was thinking about playing in that atmosphere every week and that swung it for

• Manager says last season’s troubles cannot be cured overnight
• Joe Cole completes move to ‘biggest club in the country’

Roy Hodgson has warned Liverpool supporters it will take much more than the arrival of Joe Cole to lift the “doom and gloom” that enveloped the club last season. The manager, speaking after Cole completed his free transfer from Chelsea, urged fans to remain realistic about the club’s prospects as he picks up the pieces from the wreckage of Rafael Benítez’s final season in charge.

Although Hodgson is delighted that Cole has agreed to move to Merseyside, as his rebuilding programme at Anfield starts to gather some momentum, the former Fulham manager said today that he would never want to “dupe” supporters into believing “everything was rosy” because of one signing.

Liverpool missed out on the Champions League after finishing seventh in the Premier League last term and Hodgson acknowledged the disenchantment that accompanied a miserable campaign would not disappear overnight. He has pleaded for understanding from fans and, at the same time, spelled out the need for “a lot more players” to arrive at Anfield before the start of the season if Liverpool are to progress and have a chance of seriously competing again.

“You don’t change doom and gloom, you don’t change disenchantment with a signing or two,” said Hodgson from the club’s training camp in Switzerland. “The Liverpool supporters know that I can’t stand in front of a TV camera and put right some disenchantment that has been going on for several years now with a couple of words or by signing a football player. All we can hope to persuade them is that we are going to be on the right track. We are trying to get things right again.

“I can assure [the Liverpool fans] we’ll make plenty of efforts on the field, and I’ll hope to dispel the doom and disenchantment in that way, but it’s not going to be an overnight thing. Unfortunately, last season was a very disappointing season for the club in every respect, culminating in a popular manager leaving the club – you don’t dispel that with a couple of signings and I wouldn’t ever want to try and dupe the Liverpool public by telling them all is rosy now because Joe Cole is signing. There is a lot more work to do and there are a lot more players needed.”

Progress is already being made on that front. Having already recruited the Serbia international Milan Jovanovic and Cole on free transfers, Liverpool today completed their third signing of the summer when Danny Wilson joined from Rangers in a deal worth £2m initially and up to a further £3m in add-ons.

The 18-year-old central defender, who won the Scottish Football Association and Football Writers’ Young Player of the Year award last season, described the move as a “massive challenge” after passing a medical and signing a three-year contract.

Hodgson’s desire to strengthen the squad further is likely to lead to a number of players on the periphery moving on, with Philipp Degen the latest to be told that he has no future at Anfield. The Switzerland right-back made only three league starts following his arrival from Borussia Dortmund two years ago. “We have had an amicable conversation with Philipp and he wants to play football,” Hodgson said. “We won’t stand in his way and he is free to look for another club.”

Liverpool, who play Grasshopper tonight in their first pre-season match of the summer, remain on the look-out for new owners with Hodgson admitting that Martin Broughton, the club’s chairman, is “trying desperately to find the right people” to provide much-needed new investment. In the meantime, the Liverpool manager has urged supporters to remain patient and be sensible with their demands for success. “I can only hope that the people who watch us are aware of the situation and that they’ve got their feet on the ground like we’ve all got our feet on the ground, and that they’ll give us credit if we deserve any for the efforts we make on the field,” Hodgson said.

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• Manager’s exit ‘a sad moment for Liverpool’
• Goalkeeper hopes ‘crisis passes’

The Liverpool goalkeeper, José Reina, has admitted he was surprised and disappointed by the news of Rafael Benítez’s departure from the club.

Benítez agreed a deal on Thursday afternoon to leave Anfield by mutual consent after six years in charge following a difficult season in which the Reds finished seventh in the Premier League.

Reina has spent the past five years with Benítez at Liverpool and feels it is a sad day for the club.

“It’s a sad moment for Liverpool, for Rafa Beneitez and for the players who have been with him,” the Spain goalkeeper said following his country’s 1-0 victory over South Korea in a World Cup warm-up game in Innsbruck.

“He was a very important person for the club for six years. Liverpool grew with him and Rafa also grew thanks to Liverpool.

“I hope that this crisis passes. That a person so important for the club as Rafa Benítez has left is news that you never would have expected and that you never would have believed,” he added. “The only thing left for me is to thank him for his confidence during all this time. I wish him the best of luck.”

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