Rumours surrounding the possible move for the England National Game XI squad member – Cole was an unused substitute against Holland at Woking’s Kingsmeadow Stadium during February – seemed to have died down after Steve Tilson ruled out a move for the youngster in the Southend Evening Echo.
Attempting to downplay the situation, the Blues boss linked the club with Boston United wide man Danny Thomas, insisting that Cole was “not someone we’ve been looking at.” However, it now transpires that this was a double bluff, and Cole was in fact the target all along. Tilson used his contacts with Mark Stimson, the Grays manager, and Freddy Eastwood to clinch the deal.
The 19-year-old, who played with Eastwood at both West Ham United and Grays, said of the Shrimpers sharpshooter in an interview with the club’s official website, www.southendunited.co.uk, “I spoke to Freddy the other day and asked him what the club was like. He said he really enjoyed things down at Southend and that it would be a good move for me.”
Cole, who is dating the sister of Chelsea winger and namesake Joe Cole, also revealed why he had made the move: “This is a double step-up having come from Grays and I’m looking forward to kick-starting my professional career. Hopefully Southend can do well this year and push for a place in the Championship.”
The teenager, who moves as part of a nominal fee in the same manner that his predecessor, Eastwood, did in November, also declared that he had not been approached by Premiership giants Arsenal. “You hear things all the time and I did hear a lot of things last season that there were League clubs sniffing around. To be honest though, I didn’t want to go up too high and sit in the reserves,” the mature youngster said. “There’s no point in that and I’d rather move up a couple of rungs on the ladder and then kick on playing regularly.”
A full profile on Mitchell Cole will be online over the next 24 hours.
Robert Craven
www.thelittlegazette.com