Diego Poyet officially became a West Ham player this afternoon.

The news came via Charlton’s official website when the club revealed in a statement:

“Charlton can confirm the club has reached an agreement with West Ham United over an undisclosed compensation figure for Diego Poyet.

The midfielder rejected Charlton’s offer of a substantially-improved contract extension and informed the club he would be leaving The Valley at the end of his previous contract, which expired on June 30th.

With a compensation fee agreed between the clubs to reflect the time and effort spent aiding Poyet’s development within the academy, he has now joined West Ham on a four-year contract.


“I can’t say we are happy with the outcome because our aim from the moment we started negotiating with Diego over a new contract in early 2014 was to keep him at the club in the long term,” said Chairman Richard Murray.


“We take pride in seeing players learn their trade in the academy before going on to become regulars for Charlton’s first team.


“That has been the case for a number of years and has never been more evident than last season when five academy graduates, including Poyet, made their senior debuts.


“Our commitment to that philosophy will not change and the club, from boardroom level down, remains absolutely determined to produce and hold on to our best young players.


“That is underlined by the club’s ambitious plans for the training ground at Sparrows Lane which, it is hoped, will put us in a position to apply for category-one status under the Elite Player Performance Plan structure.

“Young players should know that Charlton is the right club for them to be at because if they are good enough then they will have opportunities to prove their worth in the first team.

“With the financial stability afforded to us by owner Roland Duchâtelet, the club’s long-term plan remains to produce the best young players possible and enjoy watching them fulfil their potential while wearing the red of Charlton at The Valley.” 

Poyet is a graduate of the club’s esteemed academy and captained the Addicks’ U18 side to the Professional Development League 2 – South title in 2012/13.

The 19-year-old made his first-team debut in January and went on to win the Player of the Year award, as voted for by supporters, at the 2013/14 end-of-season dinner.

In total, he made 23 appearances for Charlton.