Ryan Fredericks is understood to have become a West Ham player this afternoon – the first new signing under manager Manuel Pellegrini.
CandH sources told us that David Sullivan met the the former Fulham right back today and completed the deal as the manager is in Chile and the new director of football is in Spain.
We understand the player has agreed terms with the Irons at around £40k a week and will now provide much needed competition to veteran Pablo Zabaleta for the right back position.
It’s a mini coup for the Irons who won the battle for his signature despite keen rivalry from Crystal Palace, Southampton, Leicester City and his former club who could not match the wages on offer at the London Stadium.
The 25 year old defender made 92 appearance for the Cottagers and was ready to sign a new deal but the club refused to put him on the same terms as their highest earner, Tom Cairney.
Fredericks started his career as a trainee at Sp..s and spent loan spells at Brentford, Millwall, Midlesbrough, before joining Bristol City and Fulham just weeks later in 2015.
The graphic shows Fredericks’ stats just before the end of the 2017/18 season as Fulham drove towards promotion from the Championship.
Sorry it is no mini coup, average signing only made decent by the fact he is a free transfer. He will soon prove to everyone he is not up to this level. A very uninspiring signing. Now on to signing more overrated players like Wilshere – oh if it was so funny. These signings are surely going to keep Arnie and lanzini at the club.
Your soo depressing.
He was without a doubt the best right back in the championship last season. Can we make it in the premiership, i ques we will find out.
However he has every attribute Pellegrini is after , young, loads of pace.
He really could prove to me a mini coup indeed.
hey give the bloke a chance he looks an ok player & young makes a change from some of the crap we’ve signed before remember Antonio & Cresswell took time to adjust to Premier league football
decent signing, at least he has some pace…nice one hammers
Fredericks has not become a Hammer…….yet. Yes he is fast but he will need more than pace to be a good right back. I am worried about his poor final ball stats and his disciplinary record. Can he can cut it at PL level? We have not paid for a right back with any serious money for a long time. Would we have paid decent money for him if he wasn’t a Bosman? I doubt it. I hope he proves me wrong
I think he will surprise a few.
Yes indeed we’ll see !! The guy is a baller …..I’m glad he’s on board ….yes a freebie, but one that looks like he’d do ok ….
I’m all for him (wow we’ve had some fantastic defenders in the past ) yep …I’m convinced he’ll hold his own ….
Now let’s get some more ballers in that have guile and panache…..great capture imho….
By Christ we have more than our fair share of so called fans that you cannot make happy at any price. And they do not seem to realise that we are not owned by multi billionaires who are treating ownership as a hobby. Fredericks is young, has tons of pace and is an excellent crosser. Oh for a similar type left back to replace Cresswell. And with the right quality around him it will not surprise me if he ends up a regular international.