West Ham today confirmed the signing of Spain under-21 midfielder Pedro Obiang from Serie A side Sampdoria.

Obiang made 35 appearances and scored three times for the the Italian side last year, helping them to secure European football with a top seven finish.

The signing signals the beginning of the Bilic-era in east London and Obiang has expressed his delight at playing in England.

“I’m very excited to play in the Premier League. It’s a style of football that will help me to progress as a player and as a person” he said.

“I think Bilic is a manager that can do very well here. I know that he was a West Ham player and he did very well with the Croatian national team. He is a manager that likes to play good football and I really like that so I am sure that we will get along very well.

The 23-year-old penned a four-year deal today with the club and explained his decision to leave warmer climes for England’s capital.

“I’m very happy to have signed. We have been talking about this for a long time and now I’ve finally got the chance to come here. I went on holiday after the season had finished and I was looking forward to receiving that call to tell me where and when to sign for this club.”

Elsewhere, club chairman, David Gold, was left with a red face after he welcomed the player to the club via Twitter… accompanied with a photo of Juventus centre-back Angelo Ogbonna.

The mistake was quickly spotted by the club, but as is the nature of social media, Gold was openly mocked over the mistake.