Hitz fits bill for Hammers

Grant makes first signing since taking over as manager

Last updated: 5th June 2010   Subscribe to RSS Feed

Hitz fits bill for Hammers

Hitzlsperger: Hammers new boy

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West Ham United's new manager Avram Grant has made his first signing after bringing in Thomas Hitzlsperger on a three-year contract.

Hitzlsperger has spent the past six months with Lazio, but the former Aston Villa midfielder has agreed to return to the Premier League with West Ham.

The 28-year-old only joined Lazio in January from Stuttgart after his contract with the Bundesliga club was cancelled to give Hitzlsperger a better chance of making Germany's World Cup.

However, despite his switch to Serie A, the ex-Bayern Munich youngster was unable to claim a place in Germany coach Joachim Low's 23-man squad for the finals in South Africa.

He will now turn his focus to his club career after accepting the opportunity to play in England for the second time.

During five years on the books of Villa, Hitzlsperger scored 12 goals in 114 appearances before leaving for Stuttgart in 2005.

Hitzlsperger is likely to be the first of several fresh faces to arrive at Upton Park over the summer months following Grant's appointment as manager.

Grant has been tipped to raid his former club Portsmouth for some players, while the likes of Thierry Henry and David Beckham have also been linked with moves to West Ham.

Comments (4)

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Adam Cauley (West Ham United fan) says...

I can see it now a new age of football for West Ham United, This is just a start to a new beginning of the club, in order to progress in the premier league this season the lads must put the horrific end to last season behind them. Hitzelberger should be a big help in this as he has premiership experience with Aston Villa before and should be a great asset to the side in the coming season.

Posted 16:25 5th June 2010

David Schaal (West Ham United fan) says...

Hitzlsperger was good at Villa and I remember him scoring a couple of spectacular goals so it will be interesting to see how he goes at Upton Park. I guess this is the type ofplayer Hammers will be getting in now, though I feel the Chairmen don't know the squad well enough if they think Parker is the only player worth keeping. Behrami and Collison are both excellent players and Mark Noble is West Ham through and through. I also think that Carlton Cole is well worth keeping and Da Costa started to play well towards the end of the season. Upson and Green are in the England squad, so why get rid of them? I think 5 or 6 new players will transform us from relegation candidates to the top half of the table. Evolution, not revolution lads!

Posted 15:48 5th June 2010

Michael Hayford (West Ham United fan) says...

As a West Ham supporter, I'm pleased to see that we have a manager who clearly means business, getting straight in to the thick of things by bringing in players the within 48 hours of getting the job. I'm looking forward to seeing whether the likes of Beckham and Henry will be influenced to come to east London.

Posted 15:38 5th June 2010

Andy B (West Ham United fan) says...

i think this is a great signing. we need more players like thomas, with the experience of playing in the prem at upton park. in my opinion we need another midfielder, a striker, a defender and another goalkeeper for competition! Come on you irons!!

Posted 15:21 5th June 2010
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