Premier League - West Ham seal double swoop

Reuters - Fri, 16 Jul 17:41:00 2010

West Ham United have completed the signings of Mexico international Pablo Barrera for £4 million from UNAM Pumas and French striker Frederic Piquionne from Lyon for £1m plus add-ons.

- 0

The 23-year-old winger Barrera, who played three times for his country at the World Cup in South Africa, signed a four-year contract with manager Avram Grant's side.

"I am very happy to sign for West Ham United and have been really taken by the reception I have received from the players and the manager," Barrera told the club website.

"I am very fast and can use both feet. I like the one-on-one situations and to take on my opponent and beat my rivals. I like to excite the supporters," he added.

Piquionne, 31, played under Hammers manager Grant at Portsmouth last season and said he was delighted to work with the Israeli again after signing a three-year deal.

West Ham did not disclose the fee, although Lyon said it was for 1.2m euros (£1m) with a possible 400,000 euros (£337,000) in performance-related extras.

"I know Avram and I like working with him and I think he likes me," Piquionne, who scored 11 goals in all competitions last season, said. "Last year we had many problems at Portsmouth but we got to the FA Cup final. He's a very good manager.

"We have the players here to have a very good season. The ambition here has to be to reach the top 10 and maybe to win the League Cup or the FA Cup.

"I played at Wembley last season and I scored there and it is an amazing experience I would like to have again."

Grant earlier said he would make at least one more signing by the end of the day, with Nice striker Loic Remy reportedly a target.

Eurosport / Reuters

Comment 2 - 21 of 21

Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

  1. There should be a separate league with ONLY British­ players and leave the rest to it!
    Guess who would be­ watching that 'match of the day'!

    From Dave M, on Mon 19 Jul 10:49AM

  2. Buying foreigners isn't the problem. The problem­ is not trusting your own young talent.

    Would you­ rather have a whole ton of Englishmen in a B-rate­ league, or a few very talented Englishmen in an A-rate­ league? Example: MLS has tons of US players. It­ certainly is helping the national team, but not as much­ as when guys like Dempsey and Altidore play overseas. ­ Crikey. Better competition = Better players. Only­ problem is that no teams in the top flight in England­ will take a chance on a good young English player. ­ And there are quite a few out there...even Joe Hart had­ to go on Loan to get any playing time, and that pretty­ much sums up the situation.

    From MrCarbohydrate, on Sat 17 Jul 2:49PM

  3. For the fourth signing, should we bring a good­ defeneder. Our defence was horrible last season....­ It's time to fix it.
    We have only 3 strikers, Cole,­ McCathy & Piquionne, I think Grant may play 4-3-2-1­ which require less striker, put Stanislas. Boa Morte,­ Barrera, Dyer as winger and use Parker, Noble and­ Hitzlsperger in the midfield.

    From kenneth_tsang, on Sat 17 Jul 11:09AM

  4. Wow, this is getting quite scary?
    How long will it be­ before there are no english players left!

    From Sean A, on Sat 17 Jul 8:42AM

  5. have to agree with 'sick of it all' though, all­ this is wrecking English football. The RFU [rugby] have­ warned clubs about this issue and so have the cricket­ boards, bottom line chaps we are going to end up with­ no national teams of any worth. Yes this Mex is a good­ player, but most in general are average, so something­ has to give sooner or later.

    From Dave, on Sat 17 Jul 7:04AM

  6. Good buy, more like good bye after one good season,­ fair play he is good.

    From Dave, on Sat 17 Jul 6:58AM

  7. hahhahaha bet they told these poor suckers Peterborough­ United are a top side...

    From Steve, on Sat 17 Jul 6:38AM

  8. I wonder what Prince smells like?

    From Steve, on Sat 17 Jul 6:27AM

  9. bet they have not even got real contracts

    From MC Grammar, on Sat 17 Jul 6:25AM

  10. There goes the future of English players... and with it­ the Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014 Dream of even making­ it to the last 8... YES, buy more foreigners...

    From Everything is connected to a Bar Bee, on Sat 17 Jul 5:47AM

  11. As is the West Ham way, and just to annoy half the f­ uckers on here, we'll probably finish top six in­ the coming season. Just because we can.

    From Lawrence, on Sat 17 Jul 4:41AM

  12. i would love him to come to utd

    From Dazmanutd, on Sat 17 Jul 4:35AM

  13. good buy hammers well done

    From Dazmanutd, on Sat 17 Jul 4:35AM
  14. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    LOL! Clutching at very short straws again you cockney­ sparrows. Expect a relegation dog fight with the likes­ of Blackpool, you poor deluded souls!

    From steviec, on Sat 17 Jul 3:18AM

  15. #7.. yes he is.

    Grant's first season with a­ premiership club (Chelsea) took them to the Champions­ League final. If not for an epic JT fail, he'd have­ a CL title on his resume.

    Second season managing­ arguably one of the worst clubs in the league on paper,­ he still took them to the final of FA CUP and actual­ made a game of it.

    That's a world class manager in­ a nutshell, they don't hide behind the quality of­ their squad, they make it better and get the best out­ of whatever they've got to work. I expect big­ things for West Ham this year.. well not big things,­ but I'd say Europa qualification is in reach. West­ Ham was an underachieving team last season and Grant is­ exactly the type of manager they need. I won't be­ surprised if they're in the top 10 by the end of­ the season. I may start watching West Hame games­ again.. they haven't been worth my time since­ Bellamy / Cole were upfront.

    From G, on Sat 17 Jul 2:57AM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    avram grant is world class? LOL

    From Waseem, on Sat 17 Jul 2:21AM

  17. Good signings.Especially Barrera

    From Saif, on Sat 17 Jul 1:59AM

  18. good signings!

    From Maxi Rodriguez, on Sat 17 Jul 1:55AM

  19. We now have a great set up. The new manager is world­ class and we have the financial backing to bring in­ MORE quality players!! Dont be surprised to see west­ ham camped in the top 7 all season and may even win a­ cup. At last a financially stable west ham football­ club with a SQUAD that will go places

    COME ON YOU­ HAMMERS

    From paul, on Sat 17 Jul 1:53AM

  20. I like this signing. This guy is young and fast and has­ good ball control. Good work Hammers!

    From tomas.americano, on Sat 17 Jul 12:58AM
Sort comments by: Most recent | Most rated

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account