West Ham have confirmed the signing of Diego Poyet after agreeing a compensation package with Charlton. The midfielder who is the son of Sunderland manager Gus Poyet has signed a four-year contract with the Hammers.
The 19-year-old rejected the offer of a new deal at The Valley and was out of contract.
“It’s massive to come to a Premier League club. It’s what I wanted,” Diego Poyet told West Ham’s club website.
“I wanted a new challenge and soon as I heard there was a chance of stepping up I had to take it.
“Like any young player, the first thing you want to do is get into the first-team. I need to show the staff, players and the gaffer what I’m capable of.”
The loss of Poyet has been felt by the Addicks who were keen to retain the services of their England youth international.
Despite only making his first-team debut in January, in a 3-0 FA Cup win at Oxford, Poyet who went on to make 23 appearances for Charlton was voted by fans as the club’s ‘player of the season’ last term.
“I can’t say we are happy with the outcome because our aim from the moment we started negotiating with Diego over a new contract in early 2014 was to keep him at the club in the long term,” said Charlton chairman Richard Murray.
Poyet is West Ham’s fourth summer signing with Mauro Zarate from Velez Sarsfield, Anderlecht’s Senegal international midfielder Cheikhou Kouyate and more recently Ipswich full-back Aaron Cresswell agreeing to move to the Boleyn Ground.
BBC Radio Suffolk has reported that the fee for the 24-year-old left-back, who has agreed a 5-year deal will be in excess of £2million. Tranmere are due to receive 20 per cent of that from a sell-on clause.
Cresswell was voted into the Championship team of the year by his peers at The PFA Awards in April.
