Hammers land Tore

  • Tore has joined on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent move

  • The Turkey international played under Bilic at Besiktas

  • Tore is relishing the chance to play in front of the West Ham fans


West Ham United are delighted to announce that Gokhan Tore has joined the Club on a season-long loan for a fee of £2.5million with the option to buy for a further £10million.


Tore, 24, has been one of the star performers at Besiktas and played a big part in helping them finish above Fenerbahce to win the Super Lig title.


He is no stranger to playing in England having been brought through the youth ranks at Chelsea.


Slaven Bilic knows all about the talented winger having managed him during his spell in charge of Besiktas and knows the qualities he will bring to the first-team squad next season.


Tore will add width, pace and trickery and is relishing the chance to showcase his talents in the Premier League.


Tore said: "I am very happy to be at West Ham. I watched many games that they played last season and saw how passionate the fans are. That made me want to come here and I am looking forward to playing in front of them.


"Slaven was also a big factor in me coming here and he is a great manager.  He is the main man and knows me very well. I could not have said no to him.


"He is the best manager I have worked under and he is like a father to the players. You feel like you are family."

Having been brought up in Cologne, Germany, Tore showed from an early age that he was destined to play at the highest level and came through the youth ranks at Bayer Leverkusen before being spotted by Chelsea and made the move to west London in 2009.


The talented winger spent most of his time in the reserves but learned a great deal from his time training with the first-team squad.


Tore signed for Hamburg in 2011 and made his senior debut against Borussia Dortmund.

 


Following a brief spell in Russia where he spent a season-long loan at Rubin Kazan, Tore really made a name for himself when he joined Besiktas on loan in June 2013.


After scoring on his debut against Trabzonspor, he went on to cement his place in the team and made a permanent move to the Turkish club in August 2014.

Tore celebrated a major achievement when he helped Besiktas win the title last season scoring four goals and creating six assists in 24 appearances.


Having learned a great deal playing under Bilic, Tore is now relishing the chance to link up with the Croatian coach once again at West Ham United and hopes to become an even stronger player.


Tore will start his pre-season preparations at the Club's training ground while the rest of the first-team finish their pre-season tour to America.