Former Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole has said that he wants to stay with French club Lille beyond the end of the season. The midfielder is currently on loan at the French club from Liverpool after failing to impress at Merseyside in his first season.
Even though the former England midfielder has expressed his opinion to stay with the French club, it looks highly unlikely that will happen because Lille has said that they will be unable to afford the transfer fee and the wages of the midfielder. Right now, Liverpool pay 70 percentage of this wages, but a permanent move will not be followed by a consequent offer from Liverpool.
As a result, Joe Cole looks all set to return to Liverpool at the end of the season. Joe Cole scored only two goals in 20 matches for Liverpool in his first season, but he has been able to impress at Lille by scoring eight goals and creating five more for his teammates in just 35 appearances this season. Due to the fact that Lille will be selling star midfielder Eden Hazard in the summer, signing Joe Cole permanently would have made more sense to the club. It is expected that the 21-year-old Belgian will be worth up to £ 40 million.
“It’s rare that an England international comes to France and that he then publicly declares he wants to stay. We will see. I haven’t found a machine yet that lets you make beautiful bank notes by pedalling,” said the chairman of Lille. One of the major stumbling blocks in a potential move be made permanent could be the wages of Joe Cole. The midfielder is currently on a contract worth £ 130,000 per week at Liverpool, but Michel Seydoux hopes that both parties can come to an agreement in the summer.