'I played for Liverpool and Chelsea - it's clear which is the biggest club in the country'

Liverpool play host to Chelsea at Anfield on Saturday afternoon and one star who has represented both clubs has spoken about who he believes is the bigger club

Joe Cole may have spent the majority of his career at Chelsea, but he once dubbed Liverpool the "biggest club in the country." The 44-year-old winger broke through the youth ranks of West Ham in 1998 before making his way to west London in 2003.

There, Cole etched his name into the annals of history with three Premier League titles and four domestic cups, racking up 39 goals and 47 assists from 282 appearances. He also thrived in England's 'golden generation' alongside the likes of Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen among others.

However, he ran the risk of upsetting the Stamford Bridge elite in 2010, when he made his way to Liverpool in a free transfer - dubbing the Reds as a "massive club," despite his close-knit bond with Chelsea. Upon signing his four-year contract at Anfield, Cole said: "This is a massive club.

"I tried to take everything out of the equation, take the financial and location side out and just thought in football terms. I thought about the semi-final of the Champions League in 2005 when I ran onto the field and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"I was thinking about playing in that atmosphere every week and that swung it for me. I know I have made the right decision and I am looking forward to the challenge. I have played in London all my life.

"I could have stayed at Chelsea because the fans loved me and I won things, but I wanted to challenge myself and when I knew Liverpool were interested it was a no-brainer because they are the biggest club in the country."

On his team-mates, Cole added: "I am excited about playing with Fernando [Torres] and obviously I know Stevie [Gerrard], Carra [ Jamie Carragher ] and Jonno [Glen Johnson] from the England set-up. Pepe Reina, Alberto Aquilani – there are a lot of big-name players here but I will need time to settle down and relax into the club.

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"I am proud to be playing for this club and will give my all in every training session and every game to help the club be successful and put some pots in the trophy cabinet."

Things ultimately didn't work out as planned for Cole on Merseyside, the star spending just three years with Liverpool - including a season-long loan with Lille - before returning to West Ham. He also managed just five goals and three assists in 42 appearances for the club.

He later backtracked on his previous comments about Liverpool being the biggest club in the country, suggesting that an interviewer swayed his view upon making his way to Merseyside. He explained in 2013: "When I joined, the guy interviewing me said, 'you've joined the biggest club in the country' and reeled off the trophies they'd won.

"I just said, 'yeah, if you put it like that, I suppose you're right' and Liverpool used that as the headline to the interview. I didn't want to upset anyone so I just went along with it.

"But obviously they're not the biggest club in the country any more. How do you judge how big a club are? Nottingham Forest won the European Cup twice but they're not a bigger club than Chelsea."

It comes as Cole will certainly have an eye on Liverpool's encounter with Chelsea at Anfield come Saturday at 12.30pm. Arne Slot will look to secure Champions League qualification for 2026/27 during the meeting, requiring just four points from his club's final three matches to do so.

Liverpool currently sit fourth in the Premier League standings with 58 points to show for their efforts. And while they have been unable to defend the title they achieved just 12 months ago, securing their spot in Europe's premier football competition for the fresh season will save face slightly.

Chelsea, meanwhile, saw their hopes and dreams of joining the Reds in the Champions League dashed on Monday evening courtesy of a 3-1 loss to Nottingham Forest. The club are a lowly ninth in the English top flight with 48 points, 10 points astray of the top five with just three games to go.

While it's not too late for the side to see some form of European football in the form of the Europa or Conference League, they will have to bank on Bournemouth, Brentford or Brighton to drop points on the home stretch while being perfect against Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland AFC to do so.