West Ham United manager Sam Allardyce has hailed the signature of ex-Ipswich Town defender Aaron Cresswell for £2million.
The 24-year-old completed his move to Upton Park earlier this month from Mick McCarthy’s Championship outfit and Allardyce believes he got value for money for the left-back.
He told West Ham TV: “This one was a very, very good signing indeed, not just for right now but also for the future.
“Of course, the price was right, which was the biggest factor in our transfer dealings this season. If the player is right and the price is right, we do the deal.
“The biggest stumbling block is the size of the fees that are being asked for today.”
Allardyce described Cresswell as an “interesting case” and sung the player’s praises for his resilience due to his track record of playing through injuries.
He added: “Aaron is a very interesting case because, as far as we looked at other targets, when I looked at his career history, spoke to Mick McCarthy and looked at what he has done in the last couple of years he was right on the doorstep.
“He started age 17 at Tranmere Rovers and played 70 games and Paul Jewell took him to Ipswich when he became manager there.
“He has played nearly every game over the last three seasons so he never misses any games through injury.
“He is 24 years old and there has been very steady development over those years. He has over 200 games in the bag.
“He was in the PFA Team of the Year last season so all of the players he played against saw him as the best left-back in the Championship.”