Ryan Fredericks was officially unveiled as a West Ham player today.
There has been much speculation about where the young right back would be playing his football in the coming season after he turned down a new contract with Fulham.
The 25-year-old Londoner becomes the first signing under new manager Manuel Pellegrini. Pellegrini said upon the announcement, “I am very pleased to welcome Ryan to West Ham United as our first signing this summer. He joins having had a successful season with Fulham and is a player who will bring great qualities to our squad.
“He has good experience, with more than 150 senior appearances already but, at 25, he is still a young player with his best years ahead of him.
“Ryan has good character, is hungry to succeed, and has shown me that he has great desire to be a West Ham United player. I look forward to working with him.”
The former Tottenham, Bristol City and Fulham player has just been named in the PFA Team of the year for the Championship. He recently helped Fulham to gain promotion back to the Premiership via the Play-Offs.
Fredericks said on whufc.com “It’s amazing for this deal to finally happen. I know we’ve been speaking about it for a while and trying to get things in place and finally, we’ve got it over the line. I’m just buzzing to be here.
“West Ham United is one of the biggest clubs in the Premier League. Everyone knows the history of West Ham and there’s a lot of factors that brought me to the club. It just felt like, for the next step of my career, I would be best suited coming here.”
Fredericks is well known for his lightning quick pace. Prior to becoming a professional footballer, he excelled in athletics, and was a district champion in the 100m.
He has a career total of 161 appearances, scoring 1 goal. And has some experience of playing in the Europa League during his time at Tottenham, something the fans will hope to see him do at West Ham.
He is sure to be a hit with the West Ham fans despite spells at arch rivals Millwall and Tottenham.