As predicted by many, West Ham have today announced the signing for Samir Nasri. He’s been training with the club since early November, and given Manuel Pellegrini has always been a fan, and signed him for Manchester City, it was inevitable he would join. He is signed until the end of the season with an option on the club’s side for a further year.
There’s no doubting his credentials, but he hasn’t really played regular top level football since his loan spell at Sevilla where he played 23 times, scoring 2 goals in 2016-17. He was then sold by Manchester City to Anatalyaspor in Turkey. He scored two goals in eight games. On 22 February 2018, Nasri was given a six-month ban from football by UEFA, for breaching WADA rules in December 2016 by receiving an intravenous drip of 500 millilitres of water containing nutrients. On 1 August 2018, Nasri’s ban was increased by an extra 12 months following an appeal from UEFA’s ethics and disciplinary inspector. Given that, I’m not quite sure how and why has ban comes to an end today, but there you go!
There’s no doubt that Nasri was a hugely talented footballer in his day. He is now 31, but has only played 362 games in his career so far, so there ought to be soe fuel in the tank still. But it’s hard to see him ever becoming a first pick, and is surely destined to fill in as and when and be an impact player from the bench. If he does make it to being a regular starter we’ll all be incredibly pleased, I guess, as it will mean he’s come into form. It’s even possible he could play some part in the match against Brighton on Wednesday, given we’re down to the bare bones.
Nasri commented today…
“You choose a club and a project because of the ambition, and I think that West Ham has everything to be one of the biggest clubs in London, for sure. I mean, 60,000 people every game at home. We play in the Olympic Stadium. The training ground is there and you have owners who wants to invest and have a good team. Everything is there to be doing great things. Coming back to the most competitive league in the world, with a team full of ambition with a manager that I know. It’s the best job in the world, and I’m really excited about it.
Manuel Pellegrini commented…
I am very pleased to welcome Samir to West Ham United. He is a player I obviously know well from our time together at Manchester City and I am happy to be working with him again. He has been working very hard here in recent weeks to build up his fitness and condition after a long period without playing, and he is now very determined to return to his best. Samir will give us another dimension in our attacking play. He is a very technical player, with excellent quality on the ball, and the ability to create big moments in important matches. He already has very good experience of the Premier League and we hope that he will have a positive impact on the team between now and the end of the season.
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