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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

• Midfielder looking forward to linking up with Cole
• ‘I’m very impressed with [Hodgson's] plans for the future’

Roy Hodgson appears to be winning some key battles for hearts and minds inside Liverpool’s dressing room after Steven Gerrard effectively tied himself to the club for at least another year.

Fresh from signing Joe Cole yesterday, Hodgson was today thrilled to hear Gerrard, previously rumoured to be on the brink of a move away from Merseyside, possibly to Real Madrid, offer an enthusiastic endorsement of his new regime.

“I wanted the chance to meet Roy Hodgson privately and, having done so, I’m very impressed with his plans for the future,” Gerrard said. The Anfield captain helped “sell” the club to his international team-mate Cole and added: “It will be fantastic to play alongside Joe in a red shirt for Liverpool.”

Hodgson did not disguise his pleasure. “It’s a great piece of news,” said Rafael Benítez’s successor. “I’m really pleased about it because I’ve got great respect for Steven Gerrard. He’s a player who I was really looking forward to working with when I came to Liverpool. It seems now with that commitment that this will happen. It gives everyone a boost, without question.”

Not that the former Fulham manager is getting carried away. “It will be a tough season with a lot of matches,” said the 62-year-old, currently working with his players at a pre-season training camp in Switzerland. “The disappointment of last season is going to take a while to dissipate but it is very good that our best player is still going to be playing at this club.

“Hopefully with the signing of Joe Cole – and, if we are lucky, one or two others to boost the squad – we will be going into this season’s competition maybe stronger on paper than we were last season.”

While much depends on whether Fernando Torres follows Gerrard’s example and buys into the new manager’s blueprint, Cole’s arrival certainly adds weight to Hodgson’s argument and he expressed his gratitude to Gerrard and Jamie Carragher in helping “sell” Merseyside to the former Chelsea midfielder.

“Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard did a good job in selling the club to Joe at the World Cup. He was undecided about what he wanted to do and, to be fair, it takes a bit more selling to persuade a Londoner who has played all his life in London to move up to Liverpool,” Hodgson said.

“I am pleased to get him because it is very important to try to improve our squad as much as we can in order to reach the high goals we have set ourselves. It is also pleasing that the reaction of the fans has been as positive as our reaction, so, at the moment, that is perfect. Now it is up to Joe to show on the field he is the right man.”

While he was marketing Liverpool to Cole there was speculation that Gerrard’s future lay away from Anfield but the midfielder’s doubts about staying on seem to have been erased by that meeting with Hodgson and he certainly appears enthusiastic about linking up with Cole.

“Joe is a great signing for us,” Gerrard said. “I’ve told him what a great club this is and I’m sure Joe’s the sort of exciting talent our fans will love to see.”

Carragher was equally positive about Cole’s recruitment. “It’s great news and a message that Liverpool mean business,” he said. “We have signed a top international who has been really important for Chelsea. A lot of clubs wanted to sign him but it is a real coup that he has chosen to come here and you have got to give the manager and the board a pat on the back for convincing him to come here. It’s the kind of signing we needed to make.”

Hodgson can only hope it will help persuade Torres to stay put but the Spain striker may be reassured to learn that Martin Broughton, Liverpool’s chairman, is continuing his efforts to find new owners to take over from Tom Hicks and George Gillett and is evidently seeking heavyweight ‘blue chip’ investors capable of empathising with the club’s fans and nurturing Anfield’s proud heritage. “We are out to find someone wealthy,” Broughton said. “But it’s important that they can win popular support. Putting Liverpool back in their rightful position is in the interests of British football and the League. Seventh [Liverpool's Premier League placing last May] is not their rightful position and nor is administration.”

Liverpool have announced a £6 rise in ticket prices to £45 per game for category A fixtures, the biggest matches, an increase of 13%.

Steven GerrardRoy HodgsonLiverpoolLouise Taylorguardian.co.uk

• Manager reveals captain’s role in signing of England midfielder
• Would suggest that 30-year-old is set to remain with club

Roy Hodgson, the Liverpool manager, has given a clear indication that Steven Gerrard is to remain with the club after claiming the midfielder played an integral role in persuading Joe Cole to move to Anfield.

Cole yesterday agreed a four-year deal with Liverpool after being released by Chelsea at the end of last season. It has been suggested that the 28-year-old, who was also wanted by Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, is a replacement for Gerrard, who has been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid this summer.

However, it would appear the 30-year-old sees his long-term future at Liverpool. According to Hodgson, it was he, along with Jamie Carragher, who told Cole during England’s recent World Cup campaign in South Africa that Anfield rather than White Hart Lane or the Emirates Stadium was the place to be.

“Jamie Carragher and Steven Gerrard did a good job in selling the club to Joe at the recent World Cup,” said Hodgson. “He [Cole] was undecided about what he wanted to do and to be fair it takes a bit more selling to persuade a Londoner who has played all his life in London to move up to Liverpool. The simple solution would have been to stay in the London area.

“I am pleased to get the player because it is very important to try to improve our squad as much as we can in order to reach the high goals we have set ourselves,” Hodgson told Talksport. “It is also pleasing the reaction of the fans has been as positive as our reaction, so at the moment that is perfect. Now it is up to Joe to show on the field he is the right man.”

Cole is Liverpool’s second signing of the summer following the arrival of the Serbia international Milan Jovanovic, also on a free transfer.

Yossi Benayoun and Emiliano Insúa have left the club while Javier Mascherano is expected to do the same. The future of Fernando Torres also remains unclear.

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