Joe Cole signing could signal new beginning for Liverpool

Chelsea may have considered Joe Cole to not be worth £90,000-a-week but for Liverpool he could be worth much more.

Whilst at Chelsea Cole may have been seen as one of many, at Anfield he is a standout performer whose signing represents good news at a time in which there has been little around the corridors of Anfield.

Over the course of the last year headlines have been dominated by the ongoing saga on Merseyside and whether Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Javier Mascherano are willing to take much more of it.

Although Mascherano looks to be following Rafael Benítez to Inter Milan, the futures of both Torres and Gerrard are far less certain, with neither player yet willing to publicly state where their future lies.

Cole’s arrival at Anfield will no doubt give both players some hope that there is a positive future at Anfield and, most importantly, that the troubles the club faced last season will soon be over.

The signing of the 28-year-old will represent just one of the many factors which the two Liverpool stars have to consider, but there is little doubt that without his arrival, a decision to leave Anfield for good would be considerably easier.

But this is not the end of the story for Liverpool. The addition of Joe Cole cannot be seen as a quick-fix for the many problems that plague the club. Instead the signing must be viewed as the beginning of what will be a crucial summer for Britain’s most successful club.

The Liverpool board must be willing to show some support for the manager who they appointed last month by offering Roy Hodgson what he needs in order to build upon today’s signing.

An extra midfielder is just one piece of the jigsaw that is required in order to rebuild Liverpool into a Champions League side.

A new left-back must now become a priority after the sale of Emiliano Insua as well as the addition of another quality striker to ensure that should Torres leave or endure another season plagued by injury, that there is somebody ready to step in and take on goal-scoring responsibilities.

Without these additions and others, the signing of Cole is meaningless. Without investment in the squad Liverpool could lose their big stars and face another poor Premier League season.

Monday’s news has been met with elation by the Anfield faithful and if the Liverpool board want to prolong that response into next season, they need to put their money where their mouth is.