West Ham United bought Canada defender Doneil Henry from Cypriot side Apollon Limassol yesterday after he was recommended by Toronto FC boss and former Premier League centre-back Ryan Nelsen.

The east London side, seventh in the table after a strong first half of the season, said in a statement that the 21-year-old had signed for an undisclosed fee on a long-term contract.

Henry was the first player to graduate from the academy at Major League Soccer outfit Toronto and after departing for Cyprus, he was loaned back by ex-Blackburn Rovers defender Nelsen for a spell last year.

“I love a tackle and I just want to defend hard. I take pride in my clean sheets with the back line and with the ’keeper so if we can just do that, it’s job completed,” said Henry who has 14 Canada caps and has twice had trials with West Ham.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.