Pedro Obiang pens new long-term Hammers contract

 

West Ham United are delighted to announce that Pedro Obiang has signed a new long-term contract until summer 2022.

The Spanish midfielder has been rewarded for a fine 2016/17 season, during which he caught the eye with his outstanding all-round qualities and scored his maiden goal in Claret and Blue.

The No14, who arrived from Italian side Sampdoria in summer 2015, has become the second Hammers star to put pen to paper on a new five-year deal in recent days, following Angelo Ogbonna.

“I’m very happy,” said Obiang, who returned for pre-season training alongside his teammates after recovering from the knee injury he suffered against Leicester City in March. “It’s normal for you sign a new deal because you did something good in the Club and this is the time to sign.”

As a mark of his importance to West Ham last term, Obiang ranked first in blocks per Premier League game with 1.9, second in tackles with 2.8 and fifth in passes made with 41.4. He also bagged his first goal for the Club in February’s excellent win at Southampton.

In 46 Premier League appearances across two seasons, he has tasted defeat on just eleven occasions, winning 20 times and drawing the other 15.

 

Pedro Obiang

 

Having pledged his future to the Hammers, Obiang is confident he and his teammates – many of whom he considers close friends – can make their mark over the five-year duration of his new contract.

“Over the next five years, we can achieve many, many things but we are going to start from today,” he told West Ham TV. “Of course, I trust the Club and the situation and I know I am in a very good team at a very good Club.

“I have a lot of teammates here and I talked to Manu [Lanzini], Adrian and Angelo [Ogbonna] over the summer when we were on holidays and that’s maybe a little bit of the reason I signed a new contract is because I prefer to be here than in another place, because I feel like part of a family here.

“I think here we can do many things. When I start to play, I have confidence and I don’t know why the situation changed [last season]. I had the possibility to start and to demonstrate what I wanted to demonstrate in my first season here, but for many reasons I didn’t do. Now I have time to do it.”

Over the next five years, we can achieve many, many things but we are going to start from today

Pedro Obiang

As a mark of his importance last term, Obiang ranked first in blocks per Premier League game with 1.9, second in tackles with 2.8 and fifth in passes made with 41.4. He also bagged his first goal for the Club in February’s important win at Southampton.

In 46 Premier League appearances across two seasons, he has tasted defeat on just eleven occasions, winning 20 and drawing the other 15.

Now, with his future committed to West Ham and his injury issues behind him, Obiang will join Slaven Bilic’s squad on their pre-season tours to Austria, Germany and Iceland ahead of the big Premier League kick-off in August.