Da Costa in for Savio
West Ham United have allowed Savio to leave for ACF Fiorentina with Manuel Da Costa heading to London
31.08.2009
WestHam United have sold Savio to ACF Fiorentina with the club receiving anundisclosed fee and Portuguese centre-back Manuel Da Costa in returnfrom the UEFA Champions League contenders.
Da Costa, 23, moves to the Boleyn Ground on a three-year contractafter one season in Italy, having left Florence in January for a loanat their Serie A rivals UC Sampdoria. His home debut could come againstLiverpool on Saturday 19 September, the team he played against for PSVEindhoven in the 2006/07 UEFA Champions League quarter-finals.
The French-born defender first made his name with AS Nancy-Lorainebefore his high-profile switch to PSV. He promptly won the Dutch titlein his first season in 2006/07 and was soon being courted by some ofEurope's leading clubs before heading to Fiorentina. Capped 23 times atU21 level, Da Costa has twice been named in senior squads by Portugal.
Savio's departure will see the club retain 50 per cent of his sell-on value in future. The Germany Under-20 international arrived atthe Boleyn Ground in January from Brescia Calcio for an undisclosedfee. The 20-year-old made eleven appearances - ten off the substitute'sbench - but failed to establish himself in the side. The emergence ofJunior Stanislas also limited Savio's chances.
萨维奥将来转会的50%转会费仍归西汉姆联队所有。
West Ham United CEO Scott Duxbury said: "This is a good deal foreveryone concerned. Although not for the want of trying, Savio hasstruggled to make an impact for various reasons, while Manuel is alsolooking for a fresh start. We will continue to look at home and acrossEurope for the brightest prospects as they best fit our vision for thisclub's future.
"Had our financial situation been different we would have preferredto have kept and developed Savio. However, we are required to makesavings and our policy has always been to sell players on the fringesrather than established first-team players. With the fee we received for Savio and 50 per cent sell-on together with acquiring the highly-rated Da Costa, it represented a great deal."
West Ham have been busy in the transfer market this summer, signingthe highly-regarded attack-minded Serie A players Luis Jimenez andAlessandro Diamanti from Internazionale and AS Livorno Calciorespectively. The club has also bought Herita Ilunga and Radoslav Kovacpermanently after their successful loan deals last season and acquiredthe highly-rated trio Peter Kurucz, Fabio Daprela and Frank Nouble.