There's a story in the Sunday Mirror saying that Joe Cole might come to City on a free in the summer, due to a wage dispute with Chelsea:
In the current economic climate it seems both United and Tottenham will find it impossible to match a City offer that would include a £5m signing on fee and wages of about £150,000 a week.
Those figures may seem incredible, but the fact the clubs would not have to pay Chelsea a fee, or any compensation, ensures Cole is the big winner from being a free agent.
It seems incredible to me. And it looks like exactly the sort of story that players in contract disputes have their agents place in newspapers. We might well try to take him on a free, but I would be shocked if Chelsea did not back down and pay him what he wants. This is the oldest trick in the book.
