Cole: Potts was right to choose Club Brugge permanent move

• Freddie Potts completed a permanent transfer to Club Brugge in the summer window, having made his full Premier League debut for West Ham in a 3-1 win over Newcastle United.
• He made his Champions League debut for Brugge against Aston Villa.
• Carlton Cole spoke to Potts and his father, Steve Potts, before that Villa fixture and has now backed the move publicly.

Freddie Potts made his first Champions League appearance for Club Brugge against Aston Villa this month.

The midfielder left West Ham for good in the summer, choosing a permanent move over another loan.

Carlton Cole spoke to Potts and his father Steve just before that game. The West Ham legend has since backed the Freddie Potts Club Brugge transfer as the right decision.

Freddie Potts: how the permanent Brugge transfer happened

Potts, 21, spent last season on loan and returned to make his full Premier League debut for West Ham in a 3-1 victory over Newcastle United.

That performance raised his profile just as clubs abroad began circling.

Rather than go out on loan again, Potts agreed a permanent switch to Club Brugge during the summer transfer window.

The move gave him a clean break and a first-team role in Belgium’s top division. It has already brought him Champions League football.

His debut in the competition came against Aston Villa. Cole made a point of discussing that fixture with the midfielder and his father beforehand.

Our full report on Cole’s assessment covers the wider reaction from West Ham circles.

The expert angle: Cole backs continental route over loan system

Cole has stayed close to Potts since his West Ham days.

He explained why he checked in before the Villa game. “I talked to him just before the Brugge game because I want to keep him quite relevant here because he’s my boy,” Cole told Football.London.

He spoke to Steve Potts on the same day. “I spoke to his dad the same day. I said, ‘Steve, you know that’s my adopted son as well’. Because I love the kid. I really want him to do well,” Cole said.

Cole set out why a permanent exit made more sense than another loan. “He does everything it says on the tin. He works hard.

“Managers want different things from different players and I think that Nuno probably would have kept him in and around it, but probably felt he wanted to give him more game time elsewhere.

“And if someone came in for him he’d give him that. it wasn’t going to be a loan thing again. He had to go and spread his wings,” he said.

Cole pointed to a pattern among young English players choosing clubs abroad over a spell down the leagues at home.

“We’ve seen it with Jude Bellingham, we’ve seen it with his brother now. We’ve seen it with Jadon Sancho,” he said.

He then widened the point. “We’ve seen it with all these great examples where you can go out, spread your wings, you don’t have to play at a lower level.

“Sometimes you can go and play in the top league somewhere else in a different country and get the experience you need. Play Champions League football, come back bigger stronger and better.”

He also drew a direct line to a former West Ham midfielder who took the same route. “Josh Cullen had that as well, he went to Belgium as well and he came back, captain of Burnley, done really well and then he’s been making a career for himself.

“So it can be done and I’m really happy that some of these boys are actually starting to realise it’s not just about England. There’s other places to go and ply your trade,” Cole said.

What happens next for Potts in the Champions League

Potts is already part of Brugge’s Champions League squad this season. He made his bow against Villa. That level of regular European football was not on offer at West Ham right now.

The Freddie Potts Club Brugge switch already looks shrewd, with Champions League football arriving fast rather than years away.

Cole framed the Belgium move as a proving ground rather than an exit door. “I’m grateful that I had the time to work with someone as professional as Freddie and he’s done really well.

“I’m really happy for what he’s done and what he’s given to the club. And hopefully he does well and [one day] comes back to the club,” he said.