By Sami Mokbel and John Edwards
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Joe Cole posed in West Ham training gear ahead of his emotional return to Upton Park.
He has rejoined the Hammers after Liverpool agreed to hand the former England midfielder a 3million pay-off.
Cole spent a second day at West Ham's Chadwell Heath training ground for a thorough medical before completing his move on Thursday night.
Look who's back: Joe Cole at West Ham's training ground on Thursday
Remember me? Cole waves to the cameras as he gets down to work at West Ham
Where do I sign? Cole stops for autographs for fans as he leaves the training ground
Cole snubbed his former West Ham manager Harry Redknapp's relegation battle at QPR, agreeing to rejoin his boyhood club on a free transfer instead.
The east London club will not pay a transfer fee for the England international as Liverpool are so keen to remove him from their books they are prepared to cancel his contract.
Cole was given his senior debut by Redknapp at West Ham in 1999.
The QPR boss said on Wednesday night: 'I was going to take Joe but he is West Ham through and through, so I understand. He is going back home so I wish him all the best.
'Joe is the only player I tried to get and I thought he was coming, but West Ham came in and that was it.'
Still got it: Cole scored on his last outing at Upton Park, in December
Favourite: Cole broke through at West Ham as a teenager and is still popular
Cole had 18 months remaining on his 90,000-a-week Liverpool contract, so the Anfield club have still saved around 4m by paying him off early.
The 31-year-old had a medical on Wednesday night and could play in Saturday's FA Cup tie against Manchester United.
Cole has endured a torrid two and a half years since leaving Chelsea, and was farmed out on a season-long loan deal to Lille last season.
He returned with the hope of forcing himself into Brendan Rodgers' plans, but has once again fallen short of expectation.
The No 26 shirt, worn by Cole during his time in east London is currently vacant in Sam Allardyce's squad.
Hammers midfielder Sebastian Lletget welcomed the club's move for Cole.
He tweeted: 'Training with my man Joe Cole today, top player, looking forward to it whufc coyi.'
COULD THESE HAMMERS HAMMER EVERYONE?
With Joe Cole returning to Upton Park, we are reminded of the West Ham squad that could have been had players such as Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and Javier Mascherano developed to display the level of skill and class we see today.
And with strikers like Carlos Tevez and Jermain Defoe, we may even have seen more than the 26 goals that West Ham have scored this season.
With the majority of the moves going to domestic clubs, West Ham have been constantly reminded of their errors by the goals and performances of former players.
Also with the departure of Demba Ba and Scott Parker more recently, it is clear they haven't learned their lesson.
Although the Hammers racked up a sum total of over 50m by selling their big names, we have to ask: was it was all worth it?
Rio Ferdinand 18,000,000 - 2000
Frank Lampard 11,000,000 - 2001
Glen Johnson 6,000,000 - 2003
Joe Cole 6,600,000 - 2003
Jermain Defoe 7,000,000 - 2004
Michael Carrick 2,750,000 - 2004
Javier Mascherano - 2008
Carlos Tevez - 2009
Craig Bellamy 14,000,000 - 2009
Demba Ba Free - 2011
Scott Parker 6,000,000 - 2011
Welcome home joe....
- steve maitland , northwich uk, 04/1/2013 03:53
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