West Ham snags Snodgrass from Hull for £10.2M fee
West Ham United unveiled the signing of Robert Snodgrass from Hull City on Friday after a series of spurned bids throughout January.
The final cost of the move is £10.2 million, and Sky Sports' Kaveh Solheko reports he'll double his salary to £50,000 a week. His contract runs until 2020.
"I'm delighted because this is a massive club with great tradition," said the Scotland international in a statement. "This is the sort of club which speaks for itself, the fans who come here and support week in, week out, and moving to and selling out this new stadium is terrific and I want to be part of it."
The Hammers initially low-balled with an offer of £3 million for the Tigers' standout, and then gradually raised its valuation of the winger before a bid of around £10 million - believed to be slightly higher than Burnley's approach - was accepted earlier this week.
Middlesbrough manager Aitor Karanka also confessed his interest in acquiring the 29-year-old, while Crystal Palace, Watford, Swansea City, Sunderland, and Bournemouth monitored the situation.
Snodgrass crafted a team-high seven goals and three assists for Hull in the Premier League this term, after only overcoming a 16-month, career-threatening knee injury last season.
Manager Marco Silva, who succeeded Mike Phelan in the Hull hot seat at the start of January, had expressed a reluctance to sell his prized asset, particularly after Jake Livermore's £10-million departure to West Bromwich Albion earlier in the window.
"We don't want to lose our best players but we have to find solutions. Player wants to go," said Silva after Thursday's League Cup semi-final elimination to Manchester United.
Hull appeared to draft in wing replacements for Snodgrass before he left Humberside. Omar Elabdellaoui and Lazar Markovic joined on loan from Olympiacos and Liverpool, respectively, and the permanent signing of Evandro Goebel from FC Porto has gone some way to replacing the artistry that Snodgrass provided on the park.
At West Ham, Snodgrass replaces the set-piece prowess shown in Dimitri Payet's one-and-a-half years in east London before he requested a move from the club. With Michail Antonio, Manuel Lanzini, and Snodgrass now constructing attacks, West Ham's striking issues could be fixed - particularly now ponytailed poacher Andy Carroll's found rhythm up top.
Snodgrass is West Ham's third incoming player of the transfer window, after the £8-million nab of Jose Fonte from Southampton and the under-the-radar addition of ex-Everton youngster Nathan Holland.