Winger Michail Antonio believes his return to London can help him flourish at West Ham United, revealing he watched the Hammers on a couple of occasions in his youth.

The 25-year-old moved to Upton Park from Nottingham Forest in a £6 million deal on transfer deadline day and the Wandsworth-born winger says he is delighted to have returned to the capital.

He told the club’s website: “I’m buzzing and finally happy to be back in London at a massive club.

“I’ve always been around London and I came to a couple of games here when I was younger, so I’m happy to be finally here and at a club I watched when I was younger.

“I’ve picked West Ham because I’m home. It’s London and I’m comfortable here and I think that’s where I’ll play my best football. I have seen the way the manager plays and I reckon I can flourish here.

“I’m buzzing and finally happy to be back in London at a massive club,” the new No30 told West Ham TV. “I’ve always been around London and I came to a couple of games here when I was younger, so I’m happy to be finally here and at a club I watched when I was younger.

Signed on a frantic deadline day in E13 which saw Nikica Jelavic, Alex Song and Victor Moses all join the east Londoners, the former Reading and Sheffield Wednesday attacker is looking forward to showing Hammers supporters what he can bring to the side.

He said: “We have done very well in the market and hopefully adding me to the table will help us push on and see where we can get.

“I’m not scared by this challenge. I will come in and put the hard work in and put my heart on my sleeve and wherever it gets me, it gets me.

“I’m not the sort of person to let things affect me. I’ll let my own ability take me where I can go and if it doesn’t stop me, hopefully I can flourish.”

Antonio added: “I put my career path down to hard work, really. I didn’t have the technique so I’ve worked on it every day.

“I was in non-league and went to school, so I didn’t really get the opportunity to learn the basics.”