Sam Allardyce believes new signing Matt Jarvis can have a huge impact on West Ham United's bid to establish themselves in the Barclays Premier League.
Big Sam has long been an admirer of the England winger and spoke of his delight after securing his signature, thanking Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold on sealing the deal.
Do you think Matt Jarvis is a very important signing for the club?
SA - "Absolutely. From my point of view it is a big piece of business for a terrific young man who will add a lot of quality to our team. Certainly from an attacking sense he is one of the best final-third crossers in the Premier League and his stats were very good at Wolverhampton Wanderers. He delivers at the business end of the field and creates a lot of chances. He is a player who can give opposition defences an awful lot of trouble and we are hoping he will produce that for us."
How did the deal to sign Jarvis come about?
SA - "I asked the Joint-Chairmen David Sullivan and David Gold to try and secure the signing of this player and make sure that if it was financially possible to bring him here, we should do it. They have done that and we are extremely pleased that we have secured what we consider a high-quality player for our team."
Will he travel to Swansea City with the team and could he play a part this weekend?
SA - "Of course. This is not a player who has come in from abroad, but this is a player who has a full pre-season behind him and who has played as recently as Tuesday night. I watched him against Leeds on Saturday before we played Aston Villa and I was obviously thoroughly impressed again. He has been a huge success at Wolves since moving from Gillingham and we hope that he can be as successful for West Ham United. He is fit, eager and raring to go.
You had to wait a while to get your man. Was that frustrating?
SA - "I think for every manager the summer months are very frustrating. There is a constant stream of information that comes in. There is a constant need for negotiating on a day to day basis and I think that your success rate is always limited based on what, who and when you are in those negotiations with. Getting a deal done is not as easy as everyone thinks, as most of the time the deal breaks down for one reason or another. The fee might not be agreed, the player may not want to come, other clubs may become interested and a lot of other factors have to be satisfied. If these demands can be met you are delighted because you end up with a player who you hope can do well for your team. We have managed our budget very well and I have had great support from the Joint-Chairmen, who I believe have spent their money wisely."
There are eight days left in the transfer window, have you got any further deals in the pipeline?
SA: "No, not at the moment. We had a couple of players lined up from abroad in case we couldn't get Matt, but they have now been put to bed. We will wait and see as always for the mayhem next week and see what it holds. Of course many things in the final week of the window tend to emerge and if that is the case then we may be able to do something. It will probably be on loan if we do. But if we only finish with Matt and nobody else I will be very happy with the business we have done. Whilst the squad is not as big as I would like it to be, it is full of quality and we have added a lot of quality to it that will stand us in good stead for the season. We are at a stage now where we are not desperate to bring in any more players.
