It has taken Joe Cole the best part of a decade to discover there is no place like home. The decision to rejoin West Ham, the club where he developed into one of the world's most highly- rated teenagers, completes a circle, even if Cole himself had not foreseen making the nostalgia trip out of necessity, rather than choice.
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Having left east London in 2003 as a fresh-faced box of tricks, Cole returns with everything to prove, having failed to flourish at clubs where the intense pressure to get results has been coupled with a distinct lack of long-term stability.
joe cole has been a fantastic player ever since he left Chelsea