Liverpool midfielder Joe Cole has gotten off to a strong start in his loan spell at French side Lille and has acknowledged that he may be interested in a permanent move to the reigning French champions.
While Kenny Dalglish's return to the sidelines coincided with an uptick in form for almost the entire squad, Cole could not break into the Scot's first-team plans and spent the summer sorting out various options, eventually deciding upon a loan to Lille.
"I talked to manager Rudi Garcia and he has the same game philosophy that I have, so I really wanted to come," Cole told the French publication L'Equipe, according to Goal.com.
"You have to make choices in life, and it was certainly not the simplest to me. The easy options were to remain in London or England. But I was excited. We are competing for the national title and I can play in the Champions League.
"Finally, it is a young team with great guys that really play good football, and I have always dreamed of playing abroad."
The former West Ham and Chelsea playmaker opened his Lille account with a tremendous long-range strike and, with playing time easier to come by in France than back at Liverpool, Cole seems open to the idea of making his loan a permanent switch.
"Will I remain at Lille next season? That is possible," Cole said. "They are happy with me, and vice versa, so why not?
"We have started to build a bridge. I really love to play here. I hope it will be a success for everyone."
Cole was brought to Liverpool by Roy Hodgson in the 2010 summer transfer window, one of the worst transfer seasons by the club in recent memory, with only Raul Meireles (now with Chelsea) proving to be an effective purchase.
Liverpool spent this past summer desperately working to offload the bloated wages of 2010 arrivals Cole, Milan Jovanovic (a transfer arranged by ex-manager Rafa Benitez) and fellow Hodgson signing Christian Poulsen.
