West Ham sign Argentina striker Castellanos from Lazio

Jan 5 : ‌Argentina forward Taty Castellanos has joined West Ham United on a four-and-a-half-year contract with the option to extend for another year, the Premier League club said on Monday.

The 27-year-old, who scored 10 goals ‌in Serie A for Lazio last ‌season, has signed in time to be available for Tuesday's Premier League clash with Nottingham Forest, West Ham said in a statement.

"I'm really happy because it's a very important challenge ‍for me personally and I've come to contribute, to try to help the team as much as I can,” said Castellanos, who will wear ​the number 11 ‌shirt at West Ham.

West Ham said their coach Nuno Espirito Santo had identified ​the former Girona and New York City FC player ⁠as a key ‌target.

Relegation-threatened West Ham, who are winless in ​their last nine matches, are 18th in the table, four points below 17th-placed ‍Forest.

“Every match is a battle... I'm going to give ⁠everything, to defend this jersey, and obviously, to ​achieve our goals ‌day after day,” Castellanos added.

(Reporting ‍by ​Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru)