OBIANG ON THE MONEY
Ade: I want to stay at Spurs
WEST HAM kicked off a £25m spending spree yesterday by snapping up a player who was once dubbed ‘the next Yaya Toure’.
Pedro Obiang has signed a four-year contract with the Hammers after quitting Sampdoria in a £5m move.
But the midfielder will not be the last player to come in as West Ham look to make a splash in the transfer market for new boss Slaven Bilic.
They have missed out on Marseille’s Andre Ayew, who completed a free transfer switch to Swansea yesterday.
But Bilic hopes to tie up a deal for £5m-rated Turkey winger Gokhan Tore, who starred for him at Besiktas.
Bilic is still in the market for more signings, with another forward top of his wish list.
Obiang, who has two caps for the Spanish Under 21 side, is a tough-tackling midfielder who was booked 13 times in 36 games last season.
The 23-year-old follows free agent signing Darren Randolph into Upton Park and is the club’s first signing since Bilic was appointed manager.
Obiang said: “I’m very excited to play in the Premier League. It’s a style of football that will help me to progress.
“I think Bilic is a manager that can do very well. I know that he was a West Ham player and he did very well with the Croatian national team.” STOKE want Victor Moses back at Stoke and will stump up £7m to land him from Chelsea. PHIL BROWN will become a Southend shareholder when he signs a new three-year deal. FULHAM are close to signing Swansea defender Jazz Richards for £400,000 following his loan spell with the Cottagers. ANDRE AYEW, 25, has agreed a four-year deal with Swansea after running down his contract with Marseille. JACK WILSHERE has accepted an FA charge for making anti-Tottenham chants during Arsenal’s FA Cup victory parade. BLACKPOOL chairman Karl Oyston will serve a six-week ban from all football activity for a text exchange in which he branded one supporter “a retard”. EMMANUEL ADEBAYOR says he is happy to stay put at Tottenham.
Spurs are desperate to offload the £100,000-a-week striker, who played just three league games after November 9 last season.
But Adebayor (right) said: “I have one year left and I’m very happy with Tottenham.”
The Togo striker, who had spectacular family problems last season, added: “My season wasn’t good. There were a lot of ups and downs... injuries, family issues... but right now I’m putting all of them behind me.
“It’s been a long time since my legs got 90 minutes football and I’m working at being fit to play again.”