Lille loanee Lopes relishing Ligue 1 stint

Lopes joined Lille on loan from Premier League champions Manchester City for the entire 2014-15 season in an attempt to gain further first-team experience, after making just four appearances last term, and the 19-year-old has flourished in northern France.

The Brazilian-born attacking midfielder, who missed more than two months due to hamstring problems from November, has amassed 16 league appearances and scored the match-winning goal as Lille stunned Ligue 1 leaders Lyon 2-1 last week.

"I think for my first year as a professional player it's a really good league," Lopes told the Ligue 1 Show on BeIN Sports.

"I'm really enjoying to be here and to play in this league. There are a lot of competitive teams and it's what I need right now. The important thing for me was to play and to develop as a player."

Lopes, who is under contract at City until 2016, added: "Wherever I play I want to play in a professional league, because I think it's the only way that I can improve.

"And I will work for that, either here or City or wherever, I just want to play football because that's what I want to do, and I want to be in the top level of football, the highest level."