In a move that will surely prove to be a terrific piece of business by West Ham United, the East End outfit have recently signed Sofiane Feghouli from La Liga side Valencia. As the Algerian’s contract was only weeks away from expiry, The Hammers were able to complete this deal spanning three years as a free transfer and represents a terrific progress for the club, as Feghouli would surely have been a highly desirable proposition for plenty of other more established sides in the Premier League and across Europe.

Predominantly operating on the right side of midfield, Sofiane Feghouli is an accomplished winger and could easily do a job for West Ham on either flank. He is blessed with a great turn of pace and a terrific engine, allowing the Algerian to produce for his team for the entire ninety minutes. This is very much in the mould of a Slaven Bilic signing, and if the former Croatian manager can coax out a performance level as high as Michail Antonio for much of 2015/16, then The Hammers really could have a lethal attack on their hands.

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Having spent six years with the Spanish side, the former Valencia wide-man has built up a great experience of top-level football, only adding to that which has been brought to West Ham by the likes of Dimitri Payet. The 26-year-old will be a tremendous outlet for the side as the whole, but France’s goal-scoring hero from their opening Euro 2016 match might find him particularly useful, as his runs stretching the opposition’s defence will both give him a passing option, and create more room for him to work with.

Sofiane Feghouli looks to have the quality and malleability to fit into any system which Slaven Bilic may like to deploy at the Olympic Stadium in 2016/17. He is no stranger to providing quality deliveries into the penalty box from wide areas – something which Andy Carroll would thrive on – nor is he incapable of joining in with intricate attacking build-up. On the face of it then, a good signing for The Hammers.

Let us know your thoughts on the signing in the comments section below. Here is how Twitter reacted to the news:

The excitement amongst West Ham fans across the land was palpable…

Feghouli is an incredible signing – can't wait to see him in the claret and blue #WHUFC #FeghouliIsAHammer — Mike Atkins (@MikeAtkns) June 14, 2016

Signing feghouli proves that we are going in the right direction and is exactly what we needed in a decent winger #WHUFC #FeghouliIsAHammer — Spencer (@SpencerBuckle) June 14, 2016

https://twitter.com/Sullivan_Mish/status/742742936115384321

We've replaced Alex Song and Victor Moses with Havard Nordtveit and Sofiane Feghouli. I'll take that ? — West Ham News (@whufc_news) June 14, 2016

Wow what a signing Feghouli is for #WHU He lit up the World Cup in 2014 and is exactly the sort of player West Ham need. #FeghouliIsAHammer — Chris Sharp (@TheRealCSharp) June 14, 2016

The fact that West Ham were able to secure Feghouli on a free inevitably drew a lot of attention…

Nordtveit – £0m

Feghouli – £0m When you sign two players for less than the cost of a Freddo. ?? pic.twitter.com/7BZGo1o4aw — bet365 (@bet365) June 14, 2016

Some of you hammers fans may not know who he is, but we got him on a free! So trust me, be happy, he's good!!!! #feghouliisahammer #COYI — The NoCo Irons ® (@NoCo_Irons) June 14, 2016

Delighted with the signing of Feghouli, great addition, quality bit of business on a free transfer #COYI #FeghouliIsAHammer — Finlay Jackson (@FinlayJackson01) June 14, 2016

https://twitter.com/tekarhussy786/status/742729421531033600

The man himself was given a piece of sound advice for a recipe for success at West Ham United…

@sffeghouli Play with passion and you will be welcome here ? #FeghouliIsAHammer #WelcomeFeghouli — Adam Fox ? (@Adamskii01) June 14, 2016

A bold but potentially mind-boggling prediction was made…

for west ham fans who do not know #Feghouli feghouli he is better than #Mahrez #FeghouliIsahammer ?????? — Roumani Abdou (@RoumaniAbdou) June 14, 2016

It seems that the review from other fans was also a positive one…

Fernebache fans are fuming that feghouli came to west ham ?? #Feghouliisahammer — Tyler Le Poidevin ? (@Ty_magic22) June 14, 2016

Finally, a slight pronunciation conundrum arose. I am sure that it will be no team before West Ham fans are singing his name loud and proud at the Olympic Stadium

Fagooey signs! That's how I keep pronouncing it to myself anyway… ? #FeghouliIsAHammer #COYI — Matt T (@jondahlsamba) June 14, 2016

Featured Image: All rights reserved by Francisco Chaupis