West Ham place faith in Faubert

English Premier League side West Ham United FC have signed French international midfielder Julien Faubert from FC Girondins de Bordeaux for a €9m fee.

Five-year deal
The 23-year-old has signed a contract running until 2012 and is the second arrival of the summer to Upton Park following the signing of Newcastle United FC's Scott Parker. Faubert, produced at the same AS Cannes academy as Zinédine Zidane, Johan Micoud and Patrick Vieira, joined Bordeaux in 2004 and helped them reach last season's UEFA Champions League. He made his France debut last August against Bosnia-Herzegovina, inheriting Zidane's No10 shirt and scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory.

'Desire and ambition'
West Ham chairman Eggert Magnússon said: "I am delighted to welcome Julien to Upton Park and feel sure that he will become a very successful signing for the club. He is one of the most highly-rated young players in European football and many clubs were attempting to sign him, so we are very pleased that he has decided to join West Ham United. I have been very impressed by his desire and ambition and I think he will be very popular among our supporters."