Hammers pick up Piquionne
West Ham United have completed the signing of France forward Frederic Piquionne
16.07.2010
West Ham United have completed their second major signing in the space of three hours with the capture of France international striker Frederic Piquionne.
The powerful forward has joined from French club Olympique Lyonnais on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee, following the arrival earlier on Friday of Mexico winger Pablo Barrera.
Both signings were officially revealed first on whufc.com, with the announcement further major additions expected within the next 72 hours.
The 31-year-old enjoyed a successful season on loan at Portsmouth in 2009/10, where he worked under new Hammers manager Avram Grant. Among the eleven goals he scored in all competitions, three came in Pompey's run to the FA Cup final.
"I'm very happy to sign for West Ham because my last manager was Avram," he said. "I know Avram and I like working with him and I think he likes me. I'm coming to work hard for the squad and I hope we have a good season.
"Avram is a very, very good coach. Last year we had many problems at Portsmouth but we got to the FA Cup final. He's a very good manager. As a player, it will be good to just concentrate on my football. When I do that, I play well and play with passion. We have the players here to have a very good season.
"The ambition here has to be to reach the top ten and maybe to win the League Cup or the FA Cup. I played at Wembley last season and I scored there and it is an amazing experience I would like to have again.
"I am looking forward to performing for West Ham now and I hope to score many goals for the club. I think the fans here are among the best in the world and I am looking forward to playing for them and for the club."
As well as his new manager, Piquionne will also renew acquaintances with former AS Saint-Etienne team-mate Herita Ilunga, while also joining forces with old French league adversaries Manuel da Costas and Julien Faubert.
"I know three of the players here from my time in France - Herita, Manu and Julien. Herita is someone I know very well because we played together for Saint-Etienne.
"I also like the captain Matthew Upson, because when I played against him here last season he was very hard and strong. The other players can also play very well and I don't know why last season was like it was here."
Piquionne will join the likes of England striker Carlton Cole, South Africa international Benni McCarthy and promising youngsters Zavon Hines, Freddie Sears, Frank Nouble and Cristian Montano in Grant's squad.
Born in the city of Noumea, the capital of the French overseas islands of New Caledonia in the south west Pacific Ocean, Piquionne followed the likes of 1998 FIFA World Cup winner Christian Karembeu and Paris St-Germain manager Antoine Kombouare to French football by joining Nimes Olympique in 2000.
After impressing for Nimes and Stade Rennais, Piquionne moved to AS Saint-Etienne, initially on loan, in 2004, spending three years with Les Verts and scoring 23 goals in 91 league appearances.
The forward, who briefly represented the Caribbean nation of Martinique at international level in 2002, joined AS Monaco in January 2007, netting 12 times in 46 games before being snapped up by French champions Olympique Lyonnais in August 2008.
Grant moved to bring Piquionne to English football by signing him on loan for Portsmouth in August 2009. The Frenchman responded by scoring eleven goals in 45 appearances, 34 of them starts.
Piquionne made his senior debut for France as a substitute in a 1-0 friendly win over Austria at the Stade de France in Paris on 28 March 2007. He also appeared for France B in a 1-0 defeat by Slovakia B in August 2007.
http://www.whufc.com/articles/20100716/hammers-pick-up-piquionne_2236884_2094314
