West Ham sign Chelsea outcast Emerson Palmieri

• West Ham have signed Emerson for an undisclosed fee
• The Italy international has signed a four-year contract
• Emerson spent four years at Chelsea

WHAT HAPPENED? The Italy international has joined the east London club for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract which includes an option to extend the deal for a further year.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Palmieri originally landed in England in 2018 when he joined Chelsea from Roma. The 28-year-old's time at Stamford Bridge did not go as planned, however, as he was limited to just 33 appearances in the Premier League before being loaned out to Lyon last season. He had been linked with a move back to Italy, but he has been given another chance to succeed in the English top-flight with the switch to David Moyes' team.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

Palmieri's time at Chelsea was not all bad. He had some positive moments in his 71 appearances...

But he was never in the plans of Thomas Tuchel, spending last year abroad.

WHAT THEY SAID: Palmieri told the club's website: "Personally, since the first day I arrived here in England, I always saw the big clubs and I always watched the big games and I knew the history about West Ham. The history is so, so big for this team and so when I knew about the interest for sure I said: ‘Yes, let’s go, I want to go there’ and I’m here now!"

WHAT NEXT FOR WEST HAM? David Moyes' team are in action on Thursday in the second leg of their Europa Conference League tie against Viborg.