Alex Song has raised West Ham United’s hopes of signing him on a permanent basis by saying that he wants to stay in London, although the midfielder will wait until the end of the season before making a decision on his future.
Song has quickly become a favourite at West Ham since arriving from Barcelona on loan and Sam Allardyce is hopeful he can convince the 27-year-old to sign a permanent deal this summer. While Song is keeping his options open, he is content with life at Upton Park at the moment.
“We will see at the end of the season,” Song said. “At the moment I am very happy here. My family is happy. The most important thing is happiness. I will see what happens and then I will make my decision at the end of the year.
“My future will be in England. I think I have more opportunities to stay in London because I have my house in London, my family live here, my kids have a lot of friends in London. Somewhere in my mind says: ‘I have to stay in London.’ I would love to stay here but I don’t know what I will choose at the end of the season. At the moment I am just happy to do my job and then we will see.”
Song found first-team opportunities limited after joining Barcelona from Arsenal three years ago. “What hurt me was my kids because they saw me playing every single week at Arsenal and then, when I left, my boys come to me and say: ‘Daddy, why are you not playing? Because the manager doesn’t like you?’ It was hard for me to explain that Barcelona is not easy and there are a lot of good players,” Song said.
Song revealed that his wife wanted to return to London when he decided that he needed to leave Barcelona last summer. “She was telling me we have to come to London as well because it was easy for her,” he said. “I said: ‘OK.’ Today she is OK. My boys said to me yesterday: ‘Daddy, I don’t want to leave here. You have to stay.’ They love london. They are very happy here.”