Official: Silva signs

West Ham have officially confirmed the signing of young Portuguese forward Xande Silva.

The 21-year-old, who has represented his country at every level from U15 to U20, arrives on an three-year contract from Primeira Liga side Vitoria de Guimaraes for an undisclosed fee believed to be £1.8m rising to £3.1m on performance.

Xande Silva, who played 26 times in the Portuguese top flight for Vitoria de Guimaraes and reached the quarter-finals of the 2017 FIFA U20 World Cup, will immediately link up with the Hammers’ U23 squad and is set to debut in Friday’s training ground friendly against Watford.

Academy Director Terry Westley said: “I would like to welcome Xande Silva to West Ham United and wish him a successful future with the club. He has shown good promise in his early career with Vitoria de Guimaraes and through the youth levels with Portugal.

“He is now joining a very talented group of Under-23 players here and will continue the next stage of his development with us. We look forward to watching his progress over the course of the coming season.”

Xande Silva told whufc.com: “This is a very important moment for me. This is a new experience for me, out of Portugal. I am very happy to be here at West Ham.

“I am a technical player and I am very fast. I will give West Ham 100% on the pitch every time I play.

“It’s a big dream of mine to play here in England. This is a club with a big history, with very good fans and I’m very excited to be here.”

 

About Sean Whetstone

I am Season Ticket Holder in West stand lower at the London Stadium and before that, I used to stand in the Sir Trevor Brooking Lower Row R seat 159 in the Boleyn Ground and in the Eighties I stood on the terraces of the old South Bank. I am a presenter on the West Ham Podcast called MooreThanJustaPodcast.co.uk. A Blogger on WestHamTillIdie.com a member of the West Ham Supporters Advisory Board (SAB), Founder of a Youtube channel called Mr West Ham Football at http://www.youtube.com/MrWestHamFootball, I am also the associate editor here at Claret and Hugh. Life Long singer of bubbles! Come on you Irons! Follow me at @Westhamfootball on twitter