Flynn Downes has revealed that no club in the world - not even Champions League winners Real Madrid - could have stopped him from joining boyhood club West Ham this summer.
The 23-year-old midfielder became David Moyes' third first-team signing of the summer this week as he joined the club on a five-year deal from Championship side Swansea City. The Hammers have paid a fee understood to be in the region of £12million for Downes, who ended last season with the best pass-completion percentage of all midfielders in the second division.
The former England Under-20 international is now relishing the opportunity to continue his career at his boyhood club, having jumped at the chance to sign for them when Swansea informed him that West Ham had joined the race for his signature this summer. Crystal Palace, Southampton and Wolves were all interested in the Brentwood-born talent, though his mind was made up once the Hammers came calling.
