Joe Cole says it took him just two days to decide that a move to the Tampa Bay Rowdies was the right one for him and his young family.

The former West Ham, Chelsea and England midfielder visited St Petersburg in Florida in February as he weighed up his next move, having had offers from "literally all over the world".

But the warm-weather climate and the chance to become the face of a team in the United States swayed Cole to make the switch to the NASL.

And the 34-year-old says, even at this early juncture of his time in Florida (he was unveiled as a player on Wednesday), that staying on and raising his family there is "definitely possible".

"I've been coming to the States on pre-season tours for many years so I knew about the level of professionalism and attention to detail," Cole told The Telegraph. "But when I came over in February I was taken about by how beautiful St Petersburg was. Everyone is really friendly. It took about two days to decide that this is what we wanted to do.

"Coming to America was always in the back of mind - my wife [Carly] was keen to do it. The kids [Ruby, Harrison and Max] were keen to do it - and eventually I was as well when I saw the place.