Although Chelsea have been spending big this summer, last night's move for the West Ham starlet caught a few people off their toes, including even the England coach.

"I have to admit that I was a little surprised when I first heard the news," admitted Tord when we caught up with in his Soho Square office on Wednesday morning.

"I saw Chelsea myself against Watford last night and they looked pretty impressive in the midfield with Gronkjaer and Duff on the wings and Geremi and Lampard in the middle.

"Obviously Joe will have to work to get into the first team but the other side of that is that he'll be together with very good footballers every day in training.

 

"It's not only the games that he plays but the players that he plays with that will teach him about his game.

"He's an ambitious boy, so he'll want to learn in any way possible.

"Of course he was playing with some very talented players at West Ham but this will be a test for Joe to just get into the Chelsea team."

Last night Tord was casting his eye over Chelsea's current batch of England contenders.

 

"I saw Bridge as well who played at left back and John Terry who very solid in the middle," he revealed. "Lampard also played well while Glen Johnson came on and played at left-back, which is good for his education too.

"If Joe Cole goes there as well, they will have a lot of English players - which is good.

Tord will also be tracking the progress of Juan Veron if he too signs up for the Stamford Bridge side.

"I know Veron very well," he says. "He hasn't been consistently good so far in England, we have only seen him at his best now and then. So it will be interesting to see how he does if he goes to Chelsea as well."

Tord was talking to Dan Freedman

 

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