Done deal West Ham has successfully signed  Chelsea youngster joining the Hammers

Done deal West Ham has successfully signed  Chelsea youngster joining the Hammers

West Ham confirm Pierre Ekwah Elimby transfer from Chelsea with the 19-year-old signing a three-year deal at the club

West Ham have confirmed the signing of 19-year-old Pierre Ekwah Elimby from Chelsea for an undisclosed fee.

The French midfielder spent two weeks on trial with the Hammers at the end of the season, playing in two under-23 Premier League matches.

Ekwah scored in the final game of the season against Arsenal and impressed with his performances.

As reported by football.london on Monday, West Ham had agreed a deal with Ekwah and with the transfer window now open the club has now confirmed the move.

The French teenager has been capped at under-16 level for his country and has agreed a three-year deal at the Hammers with the option of a fourth

Ekwah is most comfortable as a defensive midfielder but has the ability to drop into central defence. He will join up with the Hammers academy team to start with to continue his development before potentially being involved with the senior squad.

I really think that West Ham is a club where everyone is working all together. The U23s and the first team work really closely to each other, and I think that young players here have got a good chance of breaking into the first team, as they have done in the past.

“Loads of young players have reached the first team: Declan Rice has been captain, and he’s so young and playing so well. Mark Noble is an unbelievable player who’s been there and done the same. I just want to do similarly to them.

“When West Ham gave me the opportunity to come in for two weeks, I took it, saw how the club worked, and I just enjoyed it. They gave me the opportunity to sign and I said ‘yeah, I’m taking this shirt away!'”

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The new signing went onto talk about his game and his idols growing up in France.

“I like creative players, and players who break things up as well. I’m a ball player as well, so that’s the position I really enjoy playing in,” he said.

“I would say, because I’m French, Zinedine Zidane [was my idol]! He was my guy. [I also like] Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, Claude Makélélé.

“I wasn’t looking at just one player, I was literally looking at every single team who had that midfielder who was the break-up player or the playmaker, I was just looking at them and taking in everything I could. I still do it when I watch football.

“I’m really looking forward to getting started here. It’s a big thing.”