Official: Fonte is a Hammer

West Ham has signed Jose Fonte, announcing it on the official website this evening. The Portugal international centre-half joins the Hammers from Southampton on a two-and-half-year contract with the option to sign for another season for a fee of £8million.

Fonte told WHUFC.com: “I signed for West Ham because they are a great club and a very big club. They have a lot of fans and I have known for a number of years how passionate they are. The manager was also a very big influence. I thought that he really wanted me and that he sold me the project and the ambition of the Club.

I told the manager in conversations that we want to win and we want to win trophies. The ambition is big and we need to aim high. I also have part of my family living in London and they are big West Ham fans. It just made sense for me at this stage to join West Ham. It is a new challenge and a new beginning and I am looking forward to it. With the way that West Ham is going we can only look to be challenging in the top eight.

“West Ham are a massive club and it is an exciting challenge and it should be for everyone. We all need to get together and start working.”

Chairman David Gold added: “I am thrilled that we have been able to complete the signing of Jose Fonte from Southampton.

Jose has a wealth of experience at the highest level and is a proven winner having won the European Championships with Portugal last summer.

We need quality experienced players who have played in the Premier League and will settle in straight away. You can never have too many quality players in the squad and this is an important signing.

He has played over 250 games for Southampton in the top flight and is a seasoned professional who will settle in straight away. This is great news for the Club and he will be a great acquisition.

We have invested a lot of money to secure his signature but we have to face facts that there is inflation in the market and the prices are going up and we have to match the demand.

But we have always said that if the right player becomes available we will do everything to get them into the Club and that has proved to be the case on this occasion.”

In addition to the £8m transfer fee there is an additional £1m of potential add-ons and Fonte will earn £65,000 per week which is worth nearly £2m to him in wages over the life of his 30 month contract.

Welcome Fonte.