official confirm
Hammers nab Nolan
West Ham United have completed the signing of Newcastle United captain Kevin Nolan
16.06.2011
West Ham United are delighted to confirm the signing of Kevin Nolan from Newcastle United.
The highly-rated midfielder has joined the Hammers on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee and is expected to form an integral part of manager Sam Allardyce's squad.
The powerful 28-year-old, who previously worked under Allardyce during a successful ten-year spell at Bolton Wanderers, becomes the club's second summer signing following the capture of Abdoulaye Faye from Stoke City.
"It's been a bit of a whirlwind, but obviously once I knew that they wanted me, they have shown a certain hunger and desire to make sure I become a West Ham player," said Nolan.
"Having the chance to link up with Sam again is a massive thing and obviously coming to such a massive club is great for me. I'm very sad to leave Newcastle but I'm coming to another massive club in my eyes and hopefully I can start off and be as successful as I was there.
"I came to West Ham because of the tradition of the club and everything about it. I've always enjoyed playing here and there was also the chance of linking up with Sam and working with him again.
"The be all and end all was that the club actually wanted me and the owners put faith in me and have given me a security of contract. Now it's my time to repay them and hopefully I will do that."
The club hope to bring at least seven new players to the Boleyn Ground over the summer as the new manager puts together a squad capable of winning promotion to the Premier League at the first attempt.
The Liverpool-born player has long been considered one of the best attacking midfield players in English football, scoring 80 goals in 436 career appearances in all competitions.
An influential figure, Nolan captained Bolton for four years before being handed the armband again following his £4m move to Newcastle in January 2009.
The 6ft midfielder knows exactly what is needed to get out of the Championship, having gained promotion with both Bolton in 2000/01 and Newcastle in 2009/10 - a campaign that also saw him voted into the PFA Championship Team of the Year by his fellow professionals.
Nolan also helped the Trotters to reach the 2004 League Cup final and made 12 appearances in the UEFA Cup, scoring in victories over PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv and FC Zenit Saint Petersburg during the 2005/06 season.
In all, the former England Under-21 international totalled 345 appearances and 50 goals for Bolton before making a successful switch to Newcastle two-and-a-half years ago.
Nolan enjoyed a productive time at St James' Park, scoring 18 goals as the Magpies soared to the Championship title in 2009/10 before netting 12 more as Newcastle finished last season 12th in the Premier League table.
http://www.whufc.com/articles/20110616/hammers-nab-nolan_2236884_2376751
