By Ayeotan Shola
West Ham United have completed the signing of Nigerian Born, Juventus centre back Angelo Ogbonna for an £8.5million fee after he passed a medical and agreed terms on a four-year deal.
The Italian international, 27, was the subject of late interest from Southampton, Everton and Napoli but the Hammers secured his signature to make their latest signing of an already-busy summer.
‘I am delighted to have joined the club, Ogbonna said. ‘I wanted to play in the Premier League and am happy to be in London.
‘My heart told me that the right decision was to play for West Ham United. I cannot wait to start working under Mr Bilic and with my new team-mates. I feel ready for this new adventure.’
Here are facts you should know about the Nigerian born player:
*Ogbonna was born to Nigerian parents who emigrated to Italy from Nigeria in 1983
*The young parents settled in the city of Cassino in the central part of the country, but managed to obtain Italian citizenship only after his 18th birthday..
*On 22 December 2008, Ogbonna survived a car accident near Turin after he lost control of his Smart car and drove off a bridge into a torrent at around 5:00 AM..
*He made his senior debut for the Italian National team on 11 November 2011 in a friendly won 2–0 against Poland.
*He began his career at Torino, with whom he made his debut in Serie A at age 18 under Alberto Zaccheroni.
*After a loan spell at Crotone in Serie C1, he returned to Torino, with whom he played for a further five seasons.
*In July 2013 he transferred to city rivals, Juventus, winning the Scudetto in2013–14 and 2014–15, the 2013 Supercoppa Italiana and the 2014–15 Coppa Italia.
*At an international level he was a member of the Italy side which finished runners-up at the 2012 UEFA European Championship.
