Amalfitano pens new deal

West Ham United are delighted to announce that French midfielder Morgan Amalfitano has put pen to paper on a new two-year deal. 

The 29-year-old, who joined the Club from Olympique Marseille in the summer, is now on course to play his part in the Hammers’ final season at the Boleyn Ground and the first at the new Stadium in 2016.      

It is a project that Amalfitano is proud to be a part of, after making an encouraging start to life in Claret and Blue.  

“I am pleased,” he told West Ham TV. “It's the culmination of a good year. We're always trying to do our best and so I'm very pleased to have signed for two more years.   

“I think I've impressed the management, I know that I can always do better and I hope to do so. I'll give it my all as I have done in the first eight months.   

“I've not had a chance to see the Olympic Stadium yet but apparently it's a very, very beautiful Stadium. So I'm very pleased to be a part of the project and I always want to please our fans, as much as possible.”

Amalfitano has made 22 appearances in all competitions for the Hammers this term and announced himself to the West Ham faithful in style, netting on his home debut in a memorable 3-1 win over Liverpool back in September. 

All three of his goals to date have come in home wins, as he bagged the opener in a 2-1 success against champions Manchester City and doubled the Hammers’ lead in January’s 3-0 win over Hull City.

He could yet celebrate his new contract with an appearance at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, having now served a three-match ban for his dismissal at West Bromwich Albion. 

The Nice-born midfielder is understandably keen to return to action and hopes Saturday’s London derby will mark the start of an excellent end to an excellent campaign.  

“It's been a little while that I couldn't play and it's been a little bit frustrating,” he confirmed.  “So it's a pleasure to get back out on the pitch and play games. I've trained as hard as I possibly could in these past few weeks and now I'm ready for Saturday.    

“We need to get back to winning games and it's down to us to rally ourselves to win the next games and hopefully that will start against a great team in Arsenal on Saturday.”