Savio Nsereko has spoken of his excitement after joining West Ham United from Brescia Calcio.
The Germany Under-20 international forward revealed that the lure of working with Hammers manager Gianfranco Zola and technical director Gianluca Nani - who he knows well from his time at Brescia - was the driving force behind his decision to leave Italy for the Boleyn Ground.
Savio, who will wear the No10 shirt, was signed for an undisclosed fee after agreeing terms with the club over the weekend and passing a medical on Monday.
"I am very happy to be here and am proud to have the possibility of playing for a club like West Ham. I was happy [to move to England] because West Ham is a big club and a big story so I was very excited. I know a lot about the manager. I saw him play and he was a great player and I think he is also a great manager and can improve me a lot.
"I will try to do my best to improve and help the team to get better. I know it's a big responsibility [to wear the No10] but I think I know what I can do and I'm happy for that and that's it. I see myself that I hope I can help us. I have to improve a lot and I will try to improve and get better in training every day."
Zola was delighted to secure the services of a player who has been coveted by a host of European football's top clubs in recent months. The manager expects Savio to excite and impress West Ham United supporters with his ability, but asked them to give the Uganda-born teenager a chance to settle in east London.
"We have expectations of him but we don't forget that the boy is 19-years-old and has come here for the future. We're going to try to improve him to make him a better player. We know he has got great potential and he can become a really top player but the crowd and everybody needs to be patient with him. He is only 19 and is very much willing to improve and we're going to try to help him. We also need to allow him some time to settle down.
"The reason we signed Savio is that we see in him the potential that belongs to very good, special players. That's the reason we bought him and we're looking forward to working with him and making him a better player.
"I'm sure that when somebody has got the qualities that he has got that we can find a place to fit him in the team. Although the team right now is doing very well, I'm sure he will be working with us and sooner or later we will find a space to put his qualities at our disposal."
Savio, who has relatives living in London, was born in the Ugandan capital of Kampala before his family moved to the German city of Munich when he was just two years old. Having started his career at TSV 1860 Munich - the club West Ham United beat to lift the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1965 - Savio was spotted by Nani and taken to Brescia at the age of 16.
An English, German and Italian speaker, Savio was selected for the Germany Under-19 side and helped his nation lift the 2008 European Under-19 Championship trophy last summer. He scored for Germany's Under-20 side in a 4-1 win over Austria in September and will be hoping to be selected for his country's squad for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Egypt later this year.
CLICK HERE TO GET YOUR SHIRT WITH FREE SAVIO NUMBER 10 PRINTING