Joe Cole: West Ham sign midfielder from Liverpool

West Ham have completed the free transfer of midfielder Joe Cole from Liverpool on an 18-month contract.

The 31-year-old has rejoined his former club in time for Saturday's FA Cup tie with Manchester United at Upton Park.

"I've always loved West Ham and I hope I can give the club a few memorable seasons," he said.

Cole has struggled to impress at Anfield following a free transfer from Chelsea in 2010 and spent last season on loan at French club Lille.

His return to the east London club, where he progressed through the youth ranks, comes after on-loan midfielder Yossi Benayoun returned to Chelsea from the Hammers.

"It's a great move for me. This is where I learnt my trade and I'm happy to have another chance to be here," said Cole.

His former Hammers manager Harry Redknapp had tried to lure the midfielder, who has been capped 56 times by England, to QPR but Cole said it was an easy decision to rejoin West Ham under boss Sam Allardyce.

"Sam didn't have to sell me the club for me to come back," said Cole, who moved to Chelsea for £6.6m in 2003 after West Ham were relegated from the Premier League.

"For me, I have had 18 months at Liverpool where I haven't played much football and Sam wants to play me,

"I'm going to need games to get back to my best, but I want to play football and come here and help the team to make an impact."

Following the move of 18-year-old striker Sean Maguire from Irish side Waterford United, Cole is Allardyce's second signing of the January transfer window and he is set to start in Saturday's FA Cup third round match.

"Joe's main strength is opening teams up and we'll give him the ball and tell him to go and do that for us," said Allardyce.

"If we can extract the best out of him again, then it will be a fantastic signing. He's coming home and it's really great that he chose us."

A product of West Ham's youth academy, Cole signed professional terms in 1998 and helped the Hammers win the FA Youth Cup the following year.

Play media

Joe Cole's wonder-goal v Sweden at 2006 World Cup

During his first spell at Upton Park, he played alongside the likes of Paolo di Canio, Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and Jermain Defoe, but he moved across London when the club went down.

He won three Premier League titles and the FA Cup twice in a seven-year stay with the Blues.

After failing to agree a new contract he moved to Merseyside but has made only six substitute appearances this season.

Cole received a warm reception from fans when returning to West Ham with Liverpool last month, and did not celebrate his goal in the Reds' 3-2 win.

"It was a big thing in me coming back, the fact that everybody here wants me to do well," added Cole, who will again wear the number 26 shirt as he did in his first spell with the Hammers.

"The fans have always been great for me, whenever I have been back and also when I've been in the area visiting family.

"I feel like I owe the club a little bit as well because if it wasn't for West Ham I wouldn't be a footballer. This club's great youth-team coaches taught me the trade.

"Everywhere I go around the world, people love West Ham. Everywhere I go, people know me for starting here."

West Ham, who were promoted in 2005, relegated six years later and went up again last year, are 11th in the Premier League after 20 games.

Football , England

4 January 2013

Credit : BBC Sport

FIFPro World XI: Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard make shortlist

England midfielders Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard have been named among 15 midfielders on the shortlist for the 2012 FIFPro World XI.

Eden Hazard, David Silva and Yaya Toure are the other Premier League players to be nominated by fellow professionals.

Three midfielders will be selected for the team, which will be announced during the Fifa Ballon d'Or Gala on 7 January 2013.

Spanish giants Barcelona have four players on the shortlist.

The four - Sergio Busquets, Cesc Fabregas, Andres Iniesta and Xavi Hernandez - helped Spain to the Euro 2012 title this year.

Nominees: Xabi Alonso (Spain and Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Spain and FC Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Spain and FC Barcelona), Steven Gerrard (England and Liverpool), Eden Hazard (Belgium and Chelsea), Andres Iniesta (Spain and FC Barcelona), Frank Lampard (England and Chelsea), Luka Modric (Croatia and Real Madrid), Mesut Ozil (Germany and Real Madrid), Andrea Pirlo (Italy and Juventus), Franck Ribery (France and Bayern Munich), David Silva (Spain and Manchester City), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany and Bayern Munich), Yaya Toure (Ivory Coast and Manchester City), Xavi Hernandez (Spain and FC Barcelona)

Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool. The club has won eighteen League titles, seven FA Cups and a record eight League Cups. Liverpool has won more European titles than any other English club, having won five European Cups, three UEFA Cups and three UEFA Super Cups.

Liverpool was founded in 1892 and joined the Football League the following year. The club has played at Anfield since its formation. The most successful period in Liverpool's history was the 1970s and '80s when Bill Shankly and Bob Paisley led the club to eleven league titles and seven European trophies.

The club's supporters have been involved in two major tragedies. The first was the Heysel Stadium disaster in 1985 in which charging Liverpool fans caused a wall to collapse, killing 39 Juventus supporters. In the 1989Hillsborough disaster, 96 Liverpool supporters lost their lives in a crush against perimeter fencing.

Liverpool has long-standing rivalries with neighbours Everton and withManchester United. The team changed from red shirts and white shorts to an all-red home strip in 1964. The club's anthem is "You'll Never Walk Alone".