West Ham have made their fourth signing ahead of the Women’s Super League season, with the France defender Hawa Cissoko arriving from the Division 1 Féminine side Soyaux.
Matt Beard’s side finished eighth in the curtailed 2019-20 WSL season and are now building for next season and have already brought in Mackenzie Arnold (Brisbane Roar), Maz Pacheco (Reading) and Katerina Svitkova (Slavia Prague).
The 23-year-old Cissoko, who has previously played for PSG and Marseille, said: “It is a dream for me to come and play in England. I’m so very happy to be here. I chose West Ham because it’s a big club and I know people that play here, from the French team, like Kenza [Dali]. I’ve known Kenza since I was maybe 15 years old.
“I know about the English league. I know it is very hard and I like the hard contact! It’s good for me. I’m fast, I’m strong and I like to play football. My ambition now is to play all the games and win the maximum trophies I can with this team.”
Cissoko will be joining her new teammates at a state-of-the-art training ground at Chadwell Heath unveiled at the start of the month and Beard said: “Hawa is a versatile defender who can offer something a bit different to what we have had in our backline. She is a very athletic player who doesn’t mind a tackle and comes with a great energy. She can also play centre-back and left-back too, which is fantastic for us and gives us options across the defence.”
