West Ham have confirmed the signing of young striker Sam Ford until 2017.
The Hammers announced the recruitment of the former Ipswich Town forward on their official website on Tuesday, and revealed Ford has put pen to paper on a one-year deal with the option of extending it further.
Speaking about his move to the east London outift, Ford admitted the chance to potentially play at West Ham's new stadium in the Olympic Park next season was a motivating factor for him to join the club.
He told West Ham's official website: "I’m delighted to have signed for West Ham. It’s a huge club and a big step up.
"West Ham is a massive club. It is a very exciting time with the new stadium, everyone is talking about West Ham, it is definitely something to look forward to and hopefully I’ll be involved playing there one day.
"It’s been a dream of mine to be a professional footballer for as long as I can remember so hopefully I can keep on improving, keep working hard and we’ll see where that gets me."
Ford has already opened up his goalscoring account for his new team after netting early on in West Ham's Development Squad draw with Wolves in late February.
And the 17-year-old admitted scoring on his debut has injected him with the hope he can continue his fine form in front of goal in the months to come.
When asked about his strike, Ford said: "It feels really good; to score on my debut as well makes it very special.
"It’s nice to get off to a good start and hopefully that’s the first of many. I’m happy to get on the scoresheet."
