West Ham joint-chairman David Sullivan has revealed that his team had been working on a deal for Pablo Zabaleta for the last ten days and to have finally convinced him to sign for the club has left him delighted.
Zabaleta, Manchester City's third longest serving player, after Joe Hart and Vincent Kompany, has left the Sky Blues nine years after joining from French outfit Espanyol.
Giving his reactions on the signing, the joint-chairman said that they had started to speak with the Argentine as soon as Manchester City allowed them to do so and the fact that the veteran full-back decided to sign was a big bonus.
And now that the deal has been completed, Sullivan insists that he and his club are expecting to benefit not only from his abilities on the pitch but also from the influence he will bring into the dressing room.
"I have been working on this solid for the last ten days since Manchester City gave us permission to speak to the player and I am absolutely delighted that Pablo has agreed to become a Hammer!" Sullivan told his club's official website.
relatedNewsStory
"He is a top player and a supreme professional.
"He plays for one of the top countries in the world in Argentina and he'll be a fantastic addition to our squad.
"We are thoroughly looking forward to seeing not only what Pablo himself can do on the pitch, but also the positive effect he can have on the promising young players in our squad, who he will no doubt mentor and guide during his time with us."
Zabaleta has put pen-to-paper to a two-year contract and will join the Hammers when his contract expires at the end of June.
