Former Chelsea and Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole has stated that he expects to leave West Ham at the end of the season. The 32-year-old is out of contract in a few months’ time and there has been no progress in that sense to keep him at the club. Cole returned to West Ham in January 2013 on an 18 month contract. However, he has rarely featured for the first-team partly because he does not fall into the plans of manager Sam Allardyce. As one of the creative members of the team, Cole has been snubbed for more physical players who can play the long ball type of football.
Cole has revealed that it is very frustrating to be sitting on the sidelines. At 32 years of age, he wants to play football on a regular basis. As the winner of several league titles and cups with Chelsea, Cole will find no shortage of takers. He says that he is even prepared to drop down a division in order to play regular football. At the peak of his powers, Joe Cole was one of England’s best players. He has 56 international appearances to his name. He left Chelsea at the end of the 2010 season to join Liverpool, but he did not seem to fit in the plans of Brendan Rodgers either.
“At the moment it’s probably looking unlikely. If I could stay and play then that would be ideal but that doesn’t look like I’m the manager’s first choice. I’m being used here and there and sparingly. But at my age and where I am in my career I want to enjoy my football. I love competing and just I want to play. If you look at the small amount of time I’ve played on the pitch I think I’ve performed reasonably well,” said Cole.