West Ham United completed the signing of former Portugal Under-21 defender Manuel Da Costa on a three-year contract from ACF Fiorentina on Monday 31 August 2009.

The powerfully-built central defender, who can also operate a full-back, has assembled a wealth of experience at continental and international level, despite being aged just 23.

Da Costa was born in Saint-Max, a suburb of the southern France city of Nancy, to a Portuguese father and a Moroccan mother, before starting his career with his hometown club AS Nancy Lorraine in 2004.

The young Da Costa made ten appearances in Ligue 1 as a teenager in the 2005/06 season, scoring a superb individual goal against Le Mans to help Nancy reach the French League Cup final in February 2006.

After impressing for Portugal at the Toulon International U20 tournament in the summer of 2006, Da Costa's form tempted Ronald Koeman to take the defender to Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.

In the Netherlands, Da Costa's development continued apace, with the 20-year-old appearing in four UEFA Champions League fixtures against Liverpool, twice, Arsenal and Galatasaray during his first season at the Philips Stadion.

After 18 months with PSV, the defender made a switch to Italy and Serie A side ACF Fiorentina in January 2008.

A year later, Da Costa made a loan switch to another Italian club in UC Sampdoria, where he appeared in the UEFA Cup victory over Ukrainian outfit Metalist Kharkiv in February 2009.

At international level, Portugal capped Da Costa at U20 level before the player went on to become a regular fixture for the nation's U21 side. After helping the Portuguese qualify for the 2007 UEFA European Championship, Da Costa was part of the squad that finished fifth in the finals tournament in the Netherlands.

After earning more than 20 caps at U21 level, Da Costa has was called into the senior Portugal squad for the 2008 UEFA European Championship qualifiers against Azerbaijan, Poland, Kazakhstan, Belgium and Serbia, but has yet to make his full debut.