“After a long chase I am delighted that we have finally secured our very important acquisition in terms of ability and age,” Big Sam told whufc.com
“We expect him to enhance his reputation even further with West Ham and become one of the major strikers in the country and become an England regular - we hope he will produce for West Ham and England as we prepare to move into the Olympic Stadium in 2016.
“We’ve acquired a player who was recently the most expensive British player in the history of football. We haven’t done it cheaply, but we have definitely done it wisely.”
“The size of the contract is a statement of West Ham’s belief in Andy and Andy’s belief in West Ham. Our relationship over the 12 months he was here was key to this deal. He came to us in a difficult frame of mind and had suffered with injuries but the support the coaching staff and the rest of the boys that work so hard behind the scenes was something he felt very comfortable with in the end.
“He met new team-mates over the year and enjoyed their company and I think that definitely helped him to make the decision to return to West Ham. So not only did the loan pay off by us finishing tenth in our first season back in the Premier League but it has paid off by him choosing us.
“When I spoke to him I said look back at what happened at the back end of last season and the potential for what he can be. We are going to rely on him heavily to produce on a regular basis so he has pressure from that point of view. He will command a regular place if he’s on top of his form. You can’t guarantee a position to anyone but we think he can deliver the sort of performances and goals he should do.
“I told him we will improve him at West Ham while we’re at the helm and will give him a chance to become a better player. It will reap rewards for us all. He can now put his experience of Liverpool behind him and show them what they missed by letting him go.”