West Ham broke their club transfer record after signing Andre Ayew from Swansea City for £20.5 million according to the official club website.
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The Ghana worldwide moved to the Liberty Stadium on a free transfer ahead of the 2015-16 season and was a star turn for a Swansea side, scoring 12 goals, that finished 12th.
Ayew, who played alongside Dimitri Payet at Marseille before joining Swansea on a free transfer a year ago, becomes West Ham’s sixth signing of the summer as they prepare for their opening campaign at the London Stadium.
Earlier reports indicated that Swansea were holding on to the 26-year old as they looked to secure attacking reinforcements before sanctioning his move away from the Liberty Stadium.
He becomes West Ham’s seventh signing of the summer, and indeed their second in the past 24 hours.
West Ham have moved to strengthen their options at left-back after Aaron Cresswell was injured during preseason.
“I am very proud and happy to be at this magnificent club”.
Ayew, who has registered 11 goals in 67 appearances for his country, becomes the London team’s fifth close-season signing.
Ayew was visibly taken aback when he was shown around the club’s new stadium for the first time but has warned West Ham they must be prepared to overcome teams who want to disrupt their upwardly mobile momentum.
Some people will point out that we were close to signing him past year but West Ham were unwilling to match Swansea’s wage offer given the fairly wage heavy deal that had just been completed for Payet.
West Ham have completed the signing of Olympiakos left-back Arthur Masuaku.
West Ham manager Slaven Bilic is confident they can overturn a 2-1 deficit in their UEFA Europa League third qualifying round.
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There had been rumors that Ayew’s Ghana captain Asamoah Gyan, who is now playing in the Chinese Super League with Shanghai SIPG FC, is also being targeted by Bilić.
