Italian international defender Angelo Ogbonna became West Ham’s fifth signing in the close season on Friday joining for a reported fee of A?10million (13.9million euros, $15.5million) from Italian champions Juventus.
The 27-year-old — who in 2013 became the first captain of city rivals Torino to decamp to Juventus — signed a four-year contract with the Hammers.
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“My heart told me that the right decision was to play for West Ham United,” said Ogbonna, the son of Nigerian immigrants who gained Italian citizenship aged 18.
Ogbonna, won two Serie A titles and an Italian Cup with Juventus, was part of the Italian squad that reached the Euro 2012 final, although he didn’t play in any of their matches and was an unused substitute in the Champions League final.
He joins Spanish Under-21 midfielder Pedro Obiang, French striker Dmitri Payet, Darren Randolph and Stephen Hendrie as new faces at the London club since the sacking of Sam Allardyce at the end of last term — he has been replaced by the charismatic former Croatia national handler Slaven Bilic.
Ironically the 10-times capped Ogbonna was at the centre of what seemed to be a gaffe by West Ham chairman David Gold in June when the latter tweeted his delight at Obiang signing for the club alongside a photo of the then Juventus player.
By AFP