Premier League - Hitzlsperger joins Hammers

Eurosport - Sat, 05 Jun 15:47:00 2010

West Ham United have made their first recruitment of the summer after they signed Germany international midfielder Thomas Hitzlsperger.

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The former Aston Villa man moved to Upton Park from Lazio after signing a three-year deal.

The 28-year-old joined the Italian club in January after his contract at Stuttgart was cancelled, but he only made five appearances for the Rome side and subsequently lost out on a place in Germany's World Cup squad.

Hitzlsperger, who can play either on the wing or in the centre of midfield, is well used to the Premier League, having spent five years at Villa.

He signed his first professional contract with the Villans, and went on to score 8 goals in 98 league appearances before returning to his homeland with Stuttgart in 2005.

He is likely to be the first of many new faces at Upton Park and the club's new manager Avram Grant overhauls the squad that fought relegation for most of last season and its owners look to cut the wage bill.

Eurosport

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  1. A potentialy good move. Hitzel' is a tried and­ tested player with a good pedigree. He and Parker­ could be a good midfield combination.

    From Al, on Mon 7 Jun 0:56

  2. another player villa missed out on like zigic­ grrrrrrrrrr

    From pete the greek, on Sun 6 Jun 22:33

  3. Interesting signing. All he needs to do is get the best­ performing players from Portsmouth Boateng and­ O'Hara.

    From Antony, on Sun 6 Jun 21:03

  4. As a villa fan i would have loved to see him back at­ villa park, fair play west ham, look forward to seeing­ him back in the premiership.

    From Justin, on Sun 6 Jun 20:31

  5. Great player. Loved to watch him when he was playing­ for Villa, great to see him back in the Prem, even if­ he is playing for 'that other team in Claret &­ Blue' ;-)

    From Brian, on Sun 6 Jun 18:28

  6. This appears to be Gran's first signing. It will be­ interesting to see what Grant does with Hammers. Twice­ in EPL he has inherited teams and put up a far better­ show then either of his predecessors with the same­ batch of players. This time he may be able to have his­ own team (within the financial restriction) and we may­ yet see a differnt stretegy. I will not belittle his­ signings - at least not so early - based on his past­ performances.

    From CHANDRA S, on Sun 6 Jun 11:28

  7. HAMMERS NEED STRIKERS. Who is left up front now­ they've dumped Franco and ILAN? Cole and­ MCCARTHY???

    From Keith, on Sun 6 Jun 6:22

  8. no Eurosport already did their correction before this­ they put 120 goals in 98 app thats why you can see the­ comments we made previously.

    From Paul, on Sun 6 Jun 4:07

  9. I'm pretty sure the only German footballer to have­ ever scored more than a goal per game was the great­ Ottmar Walter

    From Simon, on Sun 6 Jun 2:43

  10. Im a villa supporter and loved him when he was with us,­ all best to him at hammers.

    From rhartnett_jrglass, on Sun 6 Jun 2:18

  11. Where are you guys getting 120 golas in 98 appearances?­ The article clearly says 12 goals...

    From Mickael, on Sun 6 Jun 2:16

  12. good signing for the hammers.

    From brandynlyall, on Sun 6 Jun 2:10

  13. he was amazing for us look how many goals he scored­ then he left on a three, haha he scored a few goals but­ not that many lol

    From NaS, on Sun 6 Jun 1:06

  14. 'der hammer' was a legend at villa park look­ forward to seeing him in the premiership again, his­ left foot as phenomenal

    From NaS, on Sun 6 Jun 1:05

  15. i heard hitzlsperger scored 20 of those goals in one­ game

    From Skelly T Michaels, on Sun 6 Jun 0:54

  16. A great catch for the Hammers, saw him playing for­ Stuttgart a few times. He can hit them from distance­ like few others.

    From Ian, on Sun 6 Jun 0:48

  17. haha what a dum.b a.ss

    From Paul, on Sun 6 Jun 0:39

  18. again, this is what you get with Eurosport these days -­ written by people who know nothing about and don't­ even like football. They're slowly calling it­ soccer if you notice, too. Ridiculous article

    From blythesimon, on Sun 6 Jun 0:30

  19. not 120 goals in 98. no one has ever done that­ anywhere!

    From Champions Of Europe, on Sun 6 Jun 0:21

  20. its 9 goals in 98 games if you click link to­ Hitzlsperger.

    From W?bble the Huney Munster, on Sun 6 Jun 0:18
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