Carlos Vela has confirmed he is hoping to stay at Real Sociedad beyond this season rather than return to Arsenal at the end of his loan spell.

Vela: Happy at Sociedad

The Mexico international has struggled to make an impact during his Arsenal career and has scored 11 goals in 64 appearances, the majority of which have been as a substitute.

The striker has previously been out on loan at Salamanca, Osasuna and West Brom and is enjoying the current campaign with Sociedad.

Vela is happy to be back in La Liga and the 22-year-old is keen for a deal to be agreed between the two clubs to allow him to stay with Sociedad.

"I would stay at Real," Vela told El Diario Vasco. "I am happy and the people support me.

"I owe Arsenal affection and gratitude for the opportunity that they gave me, but I was not happy there and this affected my work.

"It was hard day to day and, when it came to training, I was thinking about going home. Here, however, I am happy and have made good friends."

Regarding staying at Sociedad, Vela added: "It is too early to talk about these issues, but I do not close the door to Real. But, if you cannot reach an agreement with Arsenal, you cannot do anything.

"As I said, I'm happy here and would like to help the team stay up. Then we'll see what happens in the summer. Right now, we cannot do anything even if we wanted to."