West Ham United are pleased to announce the signing of England Under-21 midfielder Henri Lansbury.
The highly-rated 20-year-old has joined the Hammers on a season-long loan from Arsenal, having helped Norwich City to win promotion to the Premier League last season.
Hammers fans should get the chance to run the rule over Lansbury on Thursday evening when the Young Lions play Azerbaijan in a UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifier at Watford. Lansbury is not due to arrive at Chadwell Heath until after England welcome Israel to Barnsley next Monday.
Capped nine times at U21 level, the 6'0 tall Lansbury is a creative midfielder with an eye for goal, having netted 14 times in 86 career appearances.
Born in Enfield, north London, in October 1990, Lansbury was on the books of Norwich as a young schoolboy before moving to Arsenal at the age of eight in 1999.
The player came through the ranks of the Gunners Academy, winning the FA Premier Academy League and FA Youth Cup double in 2009 in a team that also featured the likes of Jack Wilshere, Emmanuel Frimpong and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas.
Lansbury's promise saw manager Arsene Wenger hand him a first-team debut in the 6-0 Carling Cup third-round victory over Sheffield United at the Emirates on 23 September 2008. He would subsequently feature in the fourth and fifth-round ties against Wigan Athletic and Burnley respectively.
Still only 18, Lansbury was loaned to League One side Scunthorpe United in January 2009 and responded by scoring on his Football League debut against Swindon Town and netting four goals in 16 appearances in total. He also appeared in the Football League Trophy final at Wembley during his time with the Iron.
Further successful loan spells at Watford (five goals in 39 appearances) and Norwich (four goals in 23 appearances) helped the midfielder to secure a place in England's squad for the 2011 UEFA European U21 Championship finals in Denmark, featuring three times as a substitute.
Lansbury's selection completed a personal hat-trick, as he had previously appeared for his country at the UEFA European U17 and U19 Championship finals in 2007 and 2009 respectively, finishing as a runner-up on both occasions.
The youngster has featured twice for Arsenal in the Premier League this season, appearing as a late substitute against both Liverpool and Manchester United.