West Ham United have completed the signing of Jonathan
Spector from Manchester United for an initial fee of
£500,000.
The 20-year-old defender has agreed a long-term deal at Upton Park
and becomes Alan Pardew's second summer signing following the
arrival of Lee Bowyer from Newcastle United last week.
Born and raised in Chicago, USA, Jonathan moved to England at the
age of 17 to join Manchester United in the summer of 2003 and made
his senior debut just a year later, in the Community Shield against
Arsenal at the Millennium Stadium.
He went on to make seven appearances for Sir Alex Ferguson's
side in the 2004-05 campaign, including two in the Champions League
against Dinamo Bucharest and Fenerbahce
In November 2004, he made his full international debut for the USA,
as a substitute in a World Cup qualifying clash against Jamaica. He
had to wait almost a year for his second taste of senior
international football, in a 2-0 qualifying victory over Panama in
October 2005, while his third and most recent cap came in a 1-1
draw against Scotland at Hampden Park a month later.
By that time, Jonathan had departed from Old Trafford in a bid
to find regular first team football - signing for Charlton Athletic
on a season-long loan spell at the start of the 2005-06 campaign.
Having impressed Alan Curbishley, Jonathan began to establish
himself as a regular in the Addicks side at the turn of this year
and went on to make 20 Premiership appearances for our London
rivals.
However, his dreams of appearing for the USA at this summer's
World Cup finals were crushed in April, when he suffered a
dislocated shoulder in Charlton's 2-1 victory over Portsmouth,
an injury that ended his season.
A versatile defender, who can play in a number of positions along
the back-line, Jonathan will become the second USA international to
play for West Ham United - after midfielder John Harkes, who made
13 appearances here in the 1995-96 season.
Legal and Commercial Director Scott Duxbury says: "We have
worked very hard to secure this transfer as we believe Jonathan is
going to be a big asset to West Ham United. We would like to
welcome Jonathan to Upton Park and wish him all the very best for
his future career here."
Exclusive reaction from Alan Pardew and Jonathan
Spector to follow shortly…