Alex Song: 'West Ham United Will Be One of the Top Clubs in England in the Next Five Years'

Former Arsenal midfielder Alex Song revealed he chose to play for West Ham United over other interested parties because he believes the London club will be "one of the best in England" in the future.

The Cameroon international left the Gunners to join Barcelona during the summer of 2012 and signed a five-year contract with the Catalan club. But Song struggled to find a place in the team and failed to settle into life at the Camp Nou.

The midfielder had been a fringe member of the team and with the arrival of new coach Luis Enrique in the summer, he was asked to find a new club. With various teams unable to match his wages, he finally completed a loan switch to the Hammers.

The 27-year-old midfielder was strongly linked with a return to Arsenal, where he developed his skills under the tutelage of Arsene Wenger. However, he did not return to his former club and believes he made the right decision to join West Ham.

Song has compared the east London club to defending La Liga champions Atletico Madrid and believes West Ham will be one of the top clubs of England in the next five years.

"The future of the club is very good. That's why I chose to come here. In Spain nobody was expecting anything from Atletico Madrid and look at how well they are doing," Song said, as quoted by the Express.

"You have to look at examples like that. The way that West Ham are looking now, in the next five years they will be one of the best clubs in England."

West Ham are one of the in-form teams in the Premier League and are sitting in fourth place after nine games. They caused an upset when they beat defending champions Manchester City 2-1 on Saturday 25 October at Upton Park.

"When I see the way that we play and where we are at the moment, I know that I made a very good choice," the Cameroon midfielder added.

David Gold, the co-owner of West Ham, admitted it is possible to sign the midfielder on a permanent deal from Barcelona at the end of the season.

"Yes it's possible, we have to wait and see. dg," Gold tweeted.