Thomas Hitzlsperger is delighted with his move to West Ham United.

The former Lazio midfielder joined the Hammers this week on a Bosman transfer.

"It is destiny," the 'Hammer' told whufc.com with a smile. "I knew that West Ham were called The Hammers and it has actually always been on my mind whether I would play for the club one day. I am really pleased to be a Hammer.

"It is nice and it suits perfectly to be at West Ham. Hopefully people will be talking about my nickname a lot because that will mean I will be doing my job and scoring some goals as well."

Having put a short-tem spell at S.S. Lazio in the first half of this year behind him - when he found himself out of favour after a change of manager - Hitzlsperger is raring to go and prove just why he has won 51 full caps for Germany. Only just 28, he has his best years ahead of him.

"The manager who signed me at Lazio got sacked after a week and the new manager didn't fancy me. They were in a relegation battle and he felt he needed players with experience of the league who spoke the language. I tried my best and worked very hard in training but he didn't pick me. That happens sometimes. It was frustrating but you just have to get on with it.

"I want to establish myself very quickly. I am raring to go with the experience I have had in Italy. I want to prove myself and play week in and week out, but I know I have to show what I can do. We have perfect conditions for a good season and I am really looking forward. The fans are looking forward, they are optimistic and we have to give them reasons to be excited. We will see where that takes us.

"After the experience in Italy, my contract came to an end and I wanted to move on. I have always wanted to come back to the Premier League. I had a really good time when I was in England and I knew this is where I wanted to be."