I want to stay in England - Alex Song

Alex Song has admitted that he "would love" to remain in England after his loan deal with West Ham United expires at the end of the season.

The midfielder is due to head back to Barcelona at the end of the current campaign, in which he has so far made 18 appearances for the Hammers.

However, the 27-year-old told The Observer: "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.

"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. 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."

Song recently retired from international duty with Cameroon after being left out of their Africa Cup of Nations squad.