Slaven Bilic has praised West Ham’s new signing Andre Ayew for his determination to join the Hammers this summer.
Ayew became West Ham’s record signing this summer and Bilic has publicly praised Ayew’s desire to join the Hammers:
“We lost some players who were on loan to us — Victor Moses, Emmanuel Emenike, Alex Song – and one player that we didn’t want to lose – James Tomkins – and we wanted to replace them with what we hope are better players,” stated Bilic.
“And I’m sure Andre is one of them. He is a top player, he is a winner. He played for a long time at Marseille, where you have to be a strong character because the pressure is there 24/7 week in, week out, and he coped with that.
“And he wanted to come — you want players who want to come to West Ham. The players on our list were also on the list of clubs bigger than us and sometimes you have to convince a player to come here. But he was very excited and we are glad.”
It seems that Bilic could be referring to West Ham’s pursuit of Carlos Bacca. The striker has been linked with a move to the Hammers all season but it has been difficult to convince the Colombian to join the club. It also explains why Bilic opted for Ayew over Bacca, highlighting the player’s Premier League experience and willingness to play for West Ham.
The Irons are preparing for their opening fixture of the Premier League season away to Chelsea on Monday and Ayew is expected to play a part at Stamford Bridge.
