Hanging up his boots at the age of 37 after paying in the US.

Here is 10 of his best while at Chelsea, the last is particularly special.

 

Shouldn't have left Chelsea when he did, the move to Liverpool wasn't a good one for him and they were never going to take to him like the Chelsea fans did. 

He was an exceptionally talented player, shame for him that he was often stuck out wide when 4-3-3 formations were in vogue. If he'd had more chances to play in the #10 role when playing in a 4-2-3-1 he could maybe have taken his game up another level. 

Great player though, almost 300 appearances for the Blues and part of three title winning sides. 

Agree about him playing out wide was not the best role for him.

If I recall correctly there a number of times when he did not finish with such aplomb. 

Absolute legend, great player and he loved the club. Also helped us get Hazard. 'I spoke to him before I signed for Chelsea. Every day, seriously, he was telling me that Chelsea was the best club for me. He said Chelsea was a big club where you can win trophies every season. For that reason I signed, so thank you, Joe Cole!' Eden Hazard

Enjoy your retirement Joe - hopefully see you at the bridge soon!

One of my favourites when he was with us and you could see how much he loved playing the game. It's such a shame the knee injury ruined what should have been his peak years. There is never a good time to get a cruciate ligament injury, but it seems like players struggle to recover from it from the age of 27 and beyond. I remember Cole, Essien and Ferreira all getting the same injury in the same season, and none of them ever properly recovered. 

I would love to have a young Joe Cole in today's team, he would have been better than ever.

Bloody loved the guy.  Exciting, creative, and when he got the ball you always hoped that something would happen.  Shame he went to that club but redeemed himself with that quote about being fed the spiel.  Good luck Joe, you'll always be one of our own.

Fantastic player for us. Simple as that.

Brilliant player.

I used to have his name on the back of my Chelsea and England shirts. Such a talent and joy to watch. That goal against United was great to watch, I remember I was at uni at the time, in a pub with a load of Untied fans and I went mental when he scored. They all left of course.

Not to mention that goal against Sweden. Again, I was surrounded by opposition fans when it went in - on holiday in NYC, watching the game in the United Nations building where my cousin worked- celebrated wildly in front of those Swede bastards. 

Still one of my all-time faves - Joey Cole. One of the most naturally gifted players I have seen and a joy to watch when he was at his best. There will be forever be the argument about whether Mourinho improved or ruined him. A player as good as Joe was on his day, you should be building a team around but I think he was kind of sacrificed for the benefit of the team - a bit like Scholes was for England. So hard when you have a squad of so many good players but it would have been nice to see Joey given more of a free-role like Hazard is, and talking of which, not only did we have a great player in JC but we have him to thank for Eden! Hope the club look after him!

Joe Cole - Chelsea FC - Ultimate Goals Compilation | HD  

Enjoy the goals of a brilliant player.