West Ham United have completed the signing of Sam Byram from Leeds United for an undisclosed fee.
Everton were also interested in the 22-year-old full-back but the Essex-born player, who can also operate as a wing-back, opted to join the London club on a four-and-a-half-year contract.
“I’m unbelievably proud and happy to join a club as big as this,” Byram told the West Ham website. “I’m just looking forward to what the future holds and hopefully I can achieve things with the team going forward.
“It’s a childhood dream of mine to play in the Premier League, so to have the chance to get into a team like this and I just want to get my head down, work hard and hopefully get a chance.”
Byram revealed that Slaven Bilic played a big part in convincing him to join. “I spoke to the manager and he is one of the main reasons which attracted me to West Ham,” he said. “I think he’s done unbelievably well with his team so far, so I’m really looking forward to working with him and his staff.
“My uncle and my cousin are big West Ham fans and have bought their tickets for the new stadium. My uncle was down here yesterday getting a shirt with my name on the back! It’s nice to have them down here and they’ll help me settle so I’m looking forward to seeing them.”
