West Ham United have announced that they have completed the season-long loan signing of Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart.
Since being made surplus to requirements soon after the arrival of Pep Guardiola, Hart has had no future at the Etihad Stadium and he spent the last campaign at Serie A outfit Torino.
However, he was always keen on returning to England and after West Ham opened negotiations with both City and the player, it appeared a matter of when, rather than if, the England international would sign for the Hammers.
The 30-year-old told the club's official website: "It's important for me to play football and to get the opportunity to come here and play is absolutely awesome. To be playing in the Premier League for a big club like West Ham, I'm really looking forward to the season.
"I've always loved the club. I think you'll struggle to find anyone, apart from the direct opposing fans around London, who doesn't love the club. It's got something about it, it's got a lot history and I've always loved playing against West Ham.
"We've moved into London Stadium and we've got Slaven [Bilic] in charge who I've spoken to and I've always enjoyed as a manager. He obviously did a good job with Croatia and he's doing a good job here, so to get the opportunity to come here, it wasn't really a hard decision."
Hart could potentially play against his parent club before the start of the season, with West Ham and Manchester City meeting in a friendly in Iceland on August 4.
Darren Plant
