Emerson Palmieri Bigs Up West Ham After Completing £15m Move From Chelsea

New West Ham United signing Emerson Palmieri has declared himself delighted to be joining a "big" club with "big" history.

The 28-year-old completed his move across London from Chelsea on Tuesday.

According to BBC Sport, West Ham have paid Chelsea an initial transfer fee of £13 million with £2m more potentially set to follow in add-ons.

Emerson will wear the no.33 at the London Stadium after signing a four-year contract, which includes an option to extend it by a further 12 months.

West Ham supporters started a new chant last season. The lyrics are: "West Ham are massive, everywhere we go."

The fans who sing it do so with a tongue-in-cheek attitude, but Emerson told whufc.com that the size of the club was a big factor in him deciding to sign.

He explained: "I'm very happy to be here and to arrive here. It's a big challenge for me, it's a big team, so I'm very happy to be here and I'm ready.

"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!

"I can't wait to get started in a West Ham shirt."

Emerson is West Ham's seventh summer signing of 2022, following Nayef Aguerd, Alphonse Areola, Flynn Downes, Gianluca Scamacca, Maxwel Cornet and Thilo Kehrer through the door.

He had been a Chelsea player since January 2018 but only started 23 Premier League games throughout his entire Stamford Bridge career.

Emerson spent last season on loan at Lyon and played against West Ham in the Europa League.

Emerson Palmieri pictured playing for Lyon against West Ham in their UEFA Europa League quarter-final in April 2022

IMAGO/Just Pictures