West Ham boss Sam Alladryce has put pen to paper with his fifth signing of the summer transfer window, Ecuador’s star World Cup striker Enner Valencia.
The 25-year-old, who formerly played for Mexican side Pachuca, passed his medical with the Hammers on Saturday and has now put his signature to a deal worth £12M.
The £12M sum agreed for the Ecuadorian does not sound a vast sum by today’s standards in the Premier League, however it is an astronomical amount of money to his former club in Mexico and marks their record-breaking transfer deal.
Valencia made waves in the World Cup by scoring every one of Ecuador’s three goals in the tournament and it is no surprise the player captured the attention of top-flight clubs this side of the Atlantic.
With West Ham coach Allardyce on a summer spending spree in a bid to make his 2014/2015 league campaign a significant improvement on last year’s, Valencia will add much-needed attacking options to the side plus a bit of fan-pleasing Latin flair, along with fellow Hammers newcomers – Spaniard Diego Poyet and Argentine Mauro Zarate.
West Ham have also made reinforcements deeper in the field with the addition of Cheikou Kouyate, who is a defensive midfielder, and Aaron Cresswell who plays at centre-back.