West Ham United left it late to secure the signing of Colombian midfielder Carlos Sanchez from Fiorentina on a two-year deal, one of two bits of business sealed by the Hammers on deadline day.

Speculation linking the 32-year-old with a return to the Premier League had been rife with manager Manuel Pellegrini only securing a deal for the holding midfielder with minutes to spare.

Sanchez, who played for Colombia at this summer’s World Cup and made 48 top-flight appearances for Aston Villa between 2014 and 2016, strengthens the Hammers’ midfield options and should slot seamlessly in to the squad after the departure of Cheikhou Kouyate to Crystal Palace.

His arrival concludes a fruitful summer of business where the much-maligned West Ham board gave their full backing to Pellegrini and new director of football Mario Husillos.

Following on from the deadline-day addition of Arsenal attacker Lucas Perez, the club brought in no fewer than nine new faces as their restructured squad look to make amends for an underwhelming season last term.

Joining Perez and Sanchez are Jack Wilshere, Fabian Balbuena, Felipe Anderson, Issa Diop, Andriy Yarmolenko, Lukasz Fabianski and Ryan Fredericks.

Speaking to the official club website about his switch to east London, Sanchez again mentioned a buzzword around the London Stadium this summer – that of the exciting “project” being undertaken.

Sanchez said: “I’m very happy to be here. I’m very excited and looking forward to achieving lots.

“I decided to come here because, first, it is the Premier League, second, it’s a beautiful club and the fans are always helping the club and, third, for me it’s an amazing opportunity and an amazing project the club are leading, being ambitious and keen to achieve good things.”