Jonathan Calleri will arrive at West Ham after Rio 2016 Olympics exit, confirms Slaven Bilic

Arrivals: Jonathan Calleri has agreed a season-long loan move to West Ham
EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj12 August 2016

West Ham coach Slaven Bilic has confirmed Jonathan Calleri will join up with his squad next week after the striker agreed a season-long loan move to the club.

The Hammers confirmed late on Thursday that the 22-year-old forward has said yes to swapping Uruguay's Deportivo Maldonado for West Ham for the upcoming season subject to international clearance.

Calleri will not arrive in time to feature in West Ham's Premier League opener against Chelsea on Monday evening, but is likely to begin training with the team next week after his nation Argentina were eliminated from the Olympics.

Speaking about West Ham's capture of the highly-rated striker, Bilic said: "We have agreed to sign Calleri.

"Unfortunately for him, but good for us, Argentina were knocked out of the Olympics this week, so he should be here with us pretty soon, depending on the work permit.

"We did the deal a little while ago, and he is a top striker. You need a squad, of course, but it is all about the balance. I think we have a good balance."

Calleri will arrive in London with high hopes on his head after the 22-year-old ended the 2016 Copa Libertadores as top scorer following his move to Brazilian side Sao Paulo on a six-month loan deal in January.

Calleri began his career with Argentine side All Boys before moving to Boca Juniors in 2014.

There he managed to break into the first-team and, indeed, cement his place in the starting XI as the forward helped the club win the Primera Division and Copa Argentina, scoring 21 goals in 53 appearances in the process.

He then sealed a move to Uruguayan club Deportivo Maldonado in January 2016, but was loaned out to Brazilian giants Sao Paulo.

Calleri will now become the sixth Argentine to play for West Ham, following in the footsteps of Lionel Scaloni, Javier Mascherano, Carlos Tevez, Mauro Zarate and Manuel Lanzini.

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