West Ham United have made their first signing of the summer in the form of German midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger. Der Hammer will officially join the London club on July 1, 2010 and becomes new boss Avram Grant’s first signing at Upton Park.
Hitzlsperger has signed a three year contract with the Hammers. It is the Munich born midfielder’s second stint in England, having previously represented Aston Villa for four years between 2001 and 2005. Hitzlsperger then rejoined Stuttgart in his native Germany before joining Lazio in January this year.
Hitzlsperger was part of the German squads at the 2006 World Cup and Euro 2008, but was not included in Joachim Low’s 23 member team for South Africa 2010.
According to reports, West Ham are also planning to make Everton’s powerful forward Yakubu their second signing, with a bid of somewhere in the £5-6m region likely to do the trick.
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