Joe Cole's loan move to Lille will cost Liverpool more than £3m, after the Premier League club agreed to pay 60% of his wages. They hope the arrangement will give them an advantage should the Belgium midfielder Eden Hazard be made available by Lille next summer.
Cole agreed to join the French club despite late interest from Aston Villa on a hectic deadline day for Liverpool. The club also sold Christian Poulsen to Evian and agreed to re-sign Craig Bellamy, on a free transfer from Manchester City. The Wales striker was due to undergo a medical on Merseyside with a view to becoming Kenny Dalglish's seventh summer signing.
Cole made only nine starts in the Premier League last season and barely played after Dalglish replaced Roy Hodgson. Fenway Sports Group, which inherited the 29-year-old's £100,000-a-week contract, was keen to take Cole off Liverpool's wage bill but struggled to find a club willing to match his terms. However, through the director of football, Damien Comolli, Liverpool used Lille's interest in Cole to explore the option of being granted first refusal on Hazard.
That was refused but Liverpool hope that a good working relationship between the clubs will work in their favour in 12 months' time.
Liverpool inquired about Hazard earlier in the summer and, along with Arsenal and several European clubs, were told the 20-year-old was not for sale. But Lille's stance may change at the end of this season, prompting Liverpool to offer generous terms on Cole in the hope that it will help them land the €30m (£26.5m)-rated player, should he become available. Hazard will still have the final decision on any future destination. Lille can offer Champions League football this season and are believed to be relaxed about Cole commuting to and from London.
Liverpool have completed a successful clearout of expensive transfer mistakes, offloading Milan Jovanovic to Anderlecht and Alberto Aquilani on loan to Milan. The Denmark midfielder Poulsen, who cost £4.5m from Juventus last summer, made only 21 appearances.
Bellamy was granted permission by the Welsh Football Association to leave a Wales training camp and fly to Liverpool for a medical. Dalglish wants the 32-year-old striker to provide experienced support. Bellamy, who played for Liverpool for one season under Rafael Benítez in 2006-07, has two years left on a £95,000-a-week contract at City and his refusal to accept reduced terms elsewhere deterred several Premier League clubs and Celtic, another of his former employers.
Queens Park Rangers and Stoke City were also linked with the striker, who has been training with Gary Speed's Wales for Euro 2012 qualifiers against Montenegro and England, but Liverpool have always been Bellamy's preferred destination. With City allowing a free transfer, a deal was expected to be completed before the 11pm deadline.
Liverpool also completed the signing of the United States Under-18 striker Villyan Bijev from California Odyssey after the youngster impressed on trial at the academy. Bijev does not have a work permit so he has joined Fortuna Düsseldorf on loan.
