Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe can't believe Chelsea would be willing to lose Joe Cole. The pair played together at West Ham United.

Defoe told the Mirror: "I can't believe Joe Cole could be leaving Chelsea.

"He will be out of contract in the summer if he doesn't sign a new deal and Chelsea would lose a magnificent player. It's difficult to see what the problem is. "I played in the same West Ham team as Joe when we were kids and can tell you first hand his attitude is first class. He works as hard as anybody and can make the difference in tight, tough games.

"It might be he just needs to be at a club where the manager has total confidence in him.

"You can see how a bit of faith pays off when you look at the improvement at Spurs of Roman Pavlyuchenko, Gareth Bale, Heurelho Gomes and David Bentley.

"It would be great to play with Joe again. If Chelsea don't want him I'm sure we'd be among the clubs who would welcome him with open arms."