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Former Arsenal and Manchester City midfielder, Samir Nasri, has signed an initial six-month deal with West Ham United followng his return from an 18-month doping ban.
UEFA had slapped him with a doping ban shortly after terminating his contract at Turkish side, Antalyaspor. The ban came after he was found to have received an intravenous drip of 500 millilitres of water containing nutrients in 2016, in violation of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules.
The Frenchman had been training with the Premier League club since early November.
Having been handed the number 18 shirt after proving his fitness to West Ham manager, Manuel Pellegrini, Nasri, 31, expressed excitement at his return to English football.
His words: “You choose a club and a project because of the ambition, and I think that West Ham has everything to be one of the biggest clubs in London.
“We play in the Olympic Stadium, the training ground is there and you have owners who wants to invest and have a good team. Everything is there to be doing great things.
“Coming back to the most competitive league in the world, with a team full of ambition with a manager that I know; it’s the best job in the world, and I’m really excited about it.”
Pellegrini said: “I am very pleased to welcome Samir to West Ham United. He is a player I obviously know well from our time together at Manchester City and I am happy to be working with him again.
“He has been working very hard here in recent weeks to build up his fitness and condition after a long period without playing, and he is now very determined to return to his best.
“Samir will give us another dimension in our attacking play. He is a very technical player, with excellent quality on the ball, and the ability to create big moments in important matches.
“He already has very good experience of the Premier League and we hope that he will have a positive impact on the team between now and the end of the season.”