West Ham United sign Japanese international midfielder Hayashi on two-year deal | OneFootball

West Ham United have completed the signing of Japanese international midfielder Honoka Hayashi on a two-year deal.

The Hammers announced the news this afternoon via an update on their official club website.

Hayashi joins the East Londoners from Swedish Damallsvenkan club AIK Football while it has been reported that West Ham United have paid an undisclosed fee to secure her services.

The midfielder started her career with Japanese top flight club Cerezo Osaka and she made more than 150 appearances over a seven-year spell in their senior team. Hayashi joined latest club AIK Football last year and she has scored six goals in 36 league outings.

On the international stage, Hayashi has been capped by her country on 16 occasions at senior level.

After completing her move to West Ham United, Hayashi said “I’m very excited to be joining West Ham. I’ve been really looking forward to playing with the team since I heard about the interest and I can’t wait to get started.

“I’m very happy to have the opportunity to play in the Barclays Women’s Super League, I didn’t expect to have the opportunity to play in England this soon in my career, but I’m excited for this moment.

“I would say that my strengths are that I’m able to keep the ball in tight area, I like to support attacking moves and help the team score lots of goals. I hope to be able to do that here at West Ham United.”

West Ham United kick-off the new season against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.