West Ham have completed the signing of Juventus and Italy defender Angelo Ogbonna on a long-term deal for a reported fee of £7m.
The 27-year-old was also wanted by Everton, but believed a move to West Ham would be more beneficial to his career.
In 2002, the then 14-year-old Ogbonna was spotted by Torino, whilst playing for his youth team Cassino in Lazio, and paid €3,000 for the centre-back to go North into the Torino youth squad. He made his debut as a starter for Torino in 2007, aged just 18, in a 2-1 loss against Reggina. Naturally, due to his age and lack of experience, he only played a handful of times that season and got loaned to FC Crotone in Serie C, where he made 22 appearances and helped them finish 4th, which took them to the play offs.
On his return to Torino, he played mainly as a back-up defender and racked up 19 appearances. However, they were relegated to Serie B. It was in Serie B that Ogbonna became a first team regular, and in 3 seasons in the Italian 2nd tier, Ogbonna garnered a reputation for being a strong, traditional Italian centre-back, and won the Defender of the Year award in 2012 as he helped Torino gain promotion to Serie A, even becoming captain in the absence of Rolando Bianchi.
In 2013, he signed for Juventus in a deal worth around €15million. This cross-town move angered Torino fans, who labelled Ogbonna “Judas” for signing for their fierce local rivals. However, he was only signed as a 4th choice centre back, behind Chiellini, Bonucci and Barzagli in the Juventus pecking order, meaning his appearances were limited to rotation in the cup and league. He has managed to make 41 appearances over his 2 seasons for the “Old Lady”, helping them to back-to-back Serie A titles and a Champions League final, where he was on the bench.
Despite his eligibility to play for the Nigerian football team, he chose to play for his country of birth, Italy. He played 10 times for Italy U-21 before making his first team debut in 2011. His performances for Torino caught the eye of national manager Cesare Prandelli, who named him in his 23 man squad for Euro 2012 where Italy finished runners-up. He has made 10 appearances for the Azzurri.
A tough-tackling centre-back who’s physical presence is feared by opposition striker, Ogbonna will slot perfectly into the West Ham back four and I’m sure he will get accustomed to the English game very quickly. Just as long as the coaching staff don’t confuse him with Obiang!
