Slaven Bilic has confirmed that Jonathan Calleri is set to sign for West Ham United, pending a work permit. This news comes after days of expectation that Calleri would be announced as a Hammer after his Olympics participation ended, and that has proved to be the case.
Calleri went to Rio 2016 with Argentina, and started all three of their games, but couldn’t prevent them being knocked out after they notched a 1-1 draw with Honduras in their final group game. However, he did prove to be one of their players of the tournament, scoring one and assisting another as they beat Algeria 2-1.
Now with his time in the Olympics over, Bilic has confirmed he is set to sign, telling the press: “We will sign Calleri and he will be with us pretty soon depending on the work permit.”
Twitter: SB: “100 per cent we will not go for Lacazette. We will sign Calleri and he will be with us pretty soon depending on the work permit. (@whufc_official)
The striker joins on a season-long loan from Deportivo Maldonado in Uruguay, and comes off the back of a strong loan spell with Brazil’s Sao Paolo, where he netted 16 times in just 31 games. His exploits there saw him garner interest off Internazionale and Barcelona, who he rejected to move to the Olympic Stadium.
Bilic also offered up an appraisal of Calleri’s footballing abilities, saying: “He is a top striker and we have a good balance in the squad.”
Twitter: SB: “He is a top striker and we have a good balance in the squad. We have a big couple of weeks in front of us with five big games. (@whufc_official)
