Earlier, we have counted a bunch of British "talents" who have not been able to realize their potential, in fact, since Paul Gascoin, there is an English attacking midfielder who has maintained a good level of competition; there are many impressive goals. He is the protagonist of this article, "The Magician of the Midfield", Joe Cole.
Joe Cole, like The Lindberg, Leo Ferdinand and Andy Cole, is from West Ham United's youth system. In 1998, Joe Cole was already well known in the youth squad, and United offered the then 16-year-old £10m (which was a sky-high price at the time) to sign the talented attacker, who was hailed as the most talented paul Gascoigne. However, Joe Cole chose to stay in the team and signed his first professional contract with West Ham United. At West Ham United, Joe Cole was quickly given his first chance and has been the Hammers' main attacking force since 1999; his natural breakthrough skills have brought him the attention of a number of Premier League giants.
In 2003, Joe Cole decided to turn down West Ham United's offer to renew his contract and switched to chelsea, who had just "got rich" for £6 million, becoming the oil king's sixth transfer after joining the team. Joe Cole's arrival is seen as the ideal candidate to succeed legend Gianfranco Zola, and the England talent's performance has not disappointed in the slightest. In his first season with the team, he was already a heavy player for Claudio Ranieri, scoring 49 appearances in the season, scoring three goals and five assists, leading Chelsea to the league runner-up and reaching the final four in the Champions League.
In the following season, Joe Cole formed a strong offensive combination with Robben and Duff; fans may just remember "Left Robben Right Duff", but in fact, Joe Cole also showed the same strength as the two. In the next two seasons, Joe Cole delivered a list of 9 goals and 6 assists (46 games) and 11 goals and 6 assists (47 games), respectively, and was an important member of leading Chelsea to two Premier League titles.
Compared with Duff, Joe Cole's dribbling and ball protection techniques are more mature; the overall situation and passing vision are also quite superior. In the 2005–06 game against Manchester United, Joe Cole scored a classic one-man goal, and his outstanding performance also made him into the Premier League team of the season. However, in the following seasons, Joe Cole's injury problems began to emerge, and in the 2006-07 and 2008-09 seasons, he played only 44 games for the team due to injuries, which also affected his form and performance.
But the healthy Joe Cole Power is still not to be ignored, in the 2007-08 season, he handed over 10 goals and 8 assists in 55 games, and personally successfully beat legends such as Drogba and Lampard, becoming chelsea's best player in the team. In 2010 , he chose to leave the team on free after winning his third Premier League title with his team , and was transferred to the Reds by Three Lions teammate Gerald Li.
However, at Liverpool, Joe Cole couldn't play well because of injury problems; he was later loaned to Lille in Ligue 1. In Lille, Joe Cole played at the standard level, but also became Chelsea's "lobbyist", saying that Hazard, who was still a supernova at the time, moved to Chelsea. Chelsea were able to steal the Belgian king from the top, and the influence of Eden Hazard's mentor and friend Joe Cole was crucial.
Joe Cole has since played for West Ham United, Villa, Coventry City and tampa Bay Rowdies in the Americas, enjoying football in different places until 2018. After retiring from the military, Joe Cole threw himself into the career of coach, returning to Chelsea in 2019 as the head coach of the Youth Army, continuing to contribute to the Blues in various positions. Joe Cole may not be as famous as Drogba and Cech; compared with england teammates Lampard, Terry and Ashley Cole, he may be one notch behind, but he is definitely a famous jumper and even a legendary star.