Joe Cole believes he is unlikely to be offered a contract extension by West Ham at the end of the current campaign.
The 31-year-old midfielder returned to the Boleyn Ground for a second spell with the club in January 2013 and signed a contract to take him until the end of the current season.However Paddington-born Cole believes he'll be playing his football elsewhere next season having failed to secure a first team place under Sam Allardyce.
"If I could stay and play then that would be ideal, but it doesn't look like I'm the manager's first choice," he told Sky Sports. "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. But I still want more. The fire still burns; I still want to play and play at the highest level I can play."
Cole also revealed that he felt his best position is in the centre of midfield - unlike the wide role he was first given by Glenn Roeder more than a decade ago and where he has played much of his football since.
"I'll be looking next year to play more centrally," he said. "Being a winger for the past 11 or 12 years you lose a bit of patience, you want to come inside. Playing central will be something I will be looking for in my next club or if I stay at West Ham.
"People will tell you I'm a good professional, I work hard. If you look at the curves on my career, it was going up, up and up and then I got my injury. That has taken a little bit out of my game.
"A lot of football is people's perception of what you could have done, what you should have done. But I'm happy with what I've done."
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