WEST Ham United is delighted to announce the signing of David
Bellion on a season-long loan from Manchester United.
Bellion, a France Under-21 international, joined United from Sunderland two years ago and can play wide on the right or through the middle.
The signing continues manager Alan Pardew's search for young talent. "David is in the same mould as several other young players we have developed in recent years," he explained.
"The Club has enjoyed outstanding success with players like Matthew Etherington, Nigel Reo-Coker, Anton Ferdinand and Mark Noble.
"David is 22 and will reinvigorate the right hand side of our attack and give me a whole new set of options.
"He is the sort of player that can break a deadlock with his pace as he is without question one of the quickest players in the Premiership.
"With all my recent signings I have looked for pace, people who are good on the ball and who will play the stylish brand of football West Ham fans demand. David fits all those criteria.
"He is a valued member of the Manchester United squad and Sir Alex Ferguson believed his development would be greatly enhanced by coming to a club like West Ham, very much in the mould of Kieron Richardson, who was loaned to West Brom last season and broke into the England team."
Pardew continued: "For the last two seasons we have had to sign and develop players that were going to dig us out of the Championship, but who could also become the backbone of our step up into the Premier League.
"I think people saw the green shoots of that planning on Saturday when we beat Blackburn with a performance of pace, power and finesse. All our new signings performed exceptionally well.
"We are not in the position to compete financially with Chelsea and Manchester United yet, but step by step we are rebuilding West Ham into a club that can compete with the very best."
Pardew admitted he is still looking to sign a striker. "It may go to the wire as far as the transfer deadline is concerned, but I am determined not to buy a player just for the sake of it. We have to keep our cool and make sure we get the right player, someone who brings an extra dimension to the abilities of Teddy Sheringham, Bobby Zamora and Marlon Harewood.
"David Bellion was wanted by a number of Premier League clubs and I feel it is a great compliment to this Club and its supporters that he wanted to come to West Ham.
"He has been troubled with injuries in the last two seasons but we are now satisfied those are cleared up and outside Manchester United, we have the best back room staff in the game so I am certain we can give him all the support he needs."
Bellion joined Sunderland in the summer of 2001 on a Bosman free deal. He moved to Manchester United in July 2003 and signed a four-year deal.