Joe Cole urges West Ham to keep key trio after Freiburg victory - 'Everyone's going to be sniffing around'

TNT Sports expert Joe Cole has urged West Ham to keep hold of their star players after reaching the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals.

West Ham overturned a 1-0 first-leg loss to Freiburg, triumphing 5-0 in the second leg at London Stadium to secure a 5-1 victory on aggregate.

Lucas Paqueta opened the scoring in the ninth minute, with Jarrod Bowen and Aaron Cresswell also hitting the back of the net before half-time.

Mohammed Kudus then scored a late brace, including a brilliant solo effort which started deep in his own half.

Cole lauded West Ham at the full-time whistle, singling out Paqueta as the night’s outstanding performer.

"He was outstanding again tonight," Cole said. "I think he's one of the best players outside of the top three - Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal."

But Cole’s praise came with the warning that West Ham would have to keep hold of their key players to continue on an upward trajectory, having won the UEFA Europa Conference League last season.

"Everyone's going to be sniffing around," he said. "The problem West Ham are going to have in the summer... You've got Bowen, Kudus and Paqueta, who are going to be sought after heavily by all of the top clubs.

"Again, it’s another summer where clubs are going to come."

Cole added: "It's going to be a good season, and it's going to have to be, 'right, what are we? Do we want to kick on again? Or are we just going to look back on this era and go, wasn't it great when we had all those great experiences in Europe.' Keep hold of these players and build."

The draw for the quarter-finals of the Europa League will take place at midday UK time on Friday, March 15, and will be shown live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

West Ham's next challenge will be Aston Villa in the Premier League on Sunday, March 17.

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