Cole Sold to Stoke - Updated

Stoke have reportedly agreed a deal with West Ham to buy Carlton Cole for £4.5m up front, plus add-ons that will see the price rise to £6 million.

Cole is expected to join up with Stoke this weekend on their pre-season training camp in Austria.

Update: This story appeared on The Guardian website last night. I also saw it on the website of another newspaper but (as suggested in the comments) I had had a few beers last night and I can't remember which one now.

The update in the comment is correct Carlton Cole is in Switzerland with the West Ham squad. The official West Ham website says today,

"The whole squad, including England trio Robert Green, Scott Parker and Carlton Cole, got themselves up to with an activation session in the gymnasium before heading outside on to the pristine pitches."

So maybe The Guardian should stick to exposing NoW hacking and I should lay off the beers :)

However today's Daily Mail says,

"Despite joining Sam Allardyce's men at their base near Bern, reports emerged suggesting Stoke manager Tony Pulis is set to make Cole his first summer signing in a £4.5million deal, which could eventually rise to £6m depending on whether several clauses are triggered."

On the face of it this does seem to be just a rehashing of The Guardian rumour - so there may not be any truth to the rumour. If Cole was close to a move then it does seem unlikely he would have travelled with West Ham to Switzerland.