WHUFC.com
Craig Bellamy has left West Ham United with Gianfranco Zola already focused
on new targets
19.01.2009
West Ham United can confirm that Craig Bellamy has joined Manchester City
for an undisclosed fee and has signed a four-and-a-half year contract.
Having expressed his desire to secure a move away from the Boleyn Ground
during meetings with manager Gianfranco Zola and CEO Scott Duxbury on Friday
morning, Bellamy did not train on Saturday and was not selected for Sunday's
3-1 home win against Fulham which moved the club up to eighth place in the
Barclays Premier League.
Speaking this evening about Bellamy's departure, Zola said: "I wish him all
the best and I hope he does well and finds what he is looking for. I am very
happy with what he has done for me and now he has decided to go somewhere
else.
"We wanted to keep him but he wanted a new challenge and we respect that.
For our fans, I can say again that we want to achieve a high level so we are
looking for players that can help us make that happen."
Bellamy travelled to Manchester on Monday and the deal to allow him to join
his eighth club in nine years was concluded after he passed a medical. The
striker, who will be 30 in July, cost West Ham United £7.5m in July 2007 and
he went on to play in 24 league games, scoring seven goals.
West Ham United CEO Scott Duxbury said: "We wish Craig well for the future
and thank him for his efforts. We had refused him permission to talk to
Tottenham last week and were determined to keep him despite repeated
interest from them and Manchester City. However, on Friday, he again made it
clear to the manager and myself that he wanted to move on.
"Late on Sunday night, Gianfranco and I met and he said it was in the best
interests to accept the player's request to leave and therefore Manchester
City's bid. I agreed with this so that we could focus our energies on
bringing in exciting players who want to play for the club and who will
improve the squad."
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