Harvard Nordtveit joins West Ham on free transfer

The Norwegian international, who has signed a five-year contract with the Hammers, made 41 appearances for the German side this season, helping them to a fourth-place finish in the Bundesliga.

(Reuters)

"It has always been a dream for me to play in the Premier League and now I have a big opportunity to do that for West Ham," the 25-year-old Nordtveit, who was an academy graduate at London rivals Arsenal, told the club's website (www.whufc.com).

"I'm looking forward to showing what I can do, but hopefully I have something to help West Ham achieve even more."

Slaven Bilic's men finished seventh in the league after Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Stoke City at the Britannia Stadium.

(Reporting by Nivedita Shankar in Bengaluru; editing by Sudipto Ganguly)