West Ham United

Slaven Bilic: Alvaro Arbeloa the "perfect option" for West Ham United

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 03 September 2016

West Ham United manager Slaven Bilic backs Alvaro Arbeloa to put his experience to good use and make a big impact in his first season back in the Premier League.

Slaven Bilic has insisted that Alvaro Arbeloa has a vital role to play at West Ham United this season after being brought in on deadline day.

The 33-year-old returns to the Premier League seven years after leaving Liverpool to join Real Madrid, becoming the Hammers' 13th signing of the summer.

Despite age now being against the former Spain international, Bilic is confident that Arbeloa will help provide some much-needed competition at full-back, bringing with him plenty of experience from his time with both Liverpool and Madrid.

"His CV is top, of course. He was at Liverpool so he knows the Premier League. He had 10 years at Real Madrid and won everything," the United boss told the club's official website. "We were looking to strengthen that position, at least short-term and he was available and simply the perfect option what we needed.

"We watched a lot of Real Madrid games like everybody else and he's a great professional, a player of great experience and I'm sure he's going to help us a lot. Make no mistake, he's coming here as a player, not as a mentor, not as a coach."

Arbeloa made nine appearances for Madrid last season in all competitions, six of which came in the Spanish top flight.