Aaron Cresswell's progression was a key reason behind my West Ham move, says Sam Byram

Hammer: Sam Byram admits his family ties with West Ham played its part in his move to Upton Park
Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Vaishali Bhardwaj1 February 2016

New West Ham defender Sam Byram has revealed that seeing Aaron Cresswell cement his place in the team following his move from the Championship two years ago played its part in helping him snub Everton for the Hammers.

West Ham completed a four-and-a-half-year deal for Byram, who was born in Essex, from Leeds United two weeks ago with the full-back admitting one of the main reasons why he came to the east London side was because of Slaven Bilic.

Byram also said the fact his uncle and cousins are Hammers fans plus the chance to play at the Olympic Stadium next season contributed to his move to Upton Park.

But in his first interview with a newspaper since switching Leeds for West Ham, Byram has admitted that watching Cresswell come from Ipswich Town and become a mainstay in the Hammers side injected him with confidence that he too can successfully make the move from the Championship to the Premier League.

Speaking to The Telegraph, the 22-year-old said: "Obviously he [Cresswell] came from the Championship [signed for £2 million from Ipswich Town in July 2014] and has done unbelievably well.

"So to see that pathway from there to the first team and into the Premier League gives me confidence.

"The Olympic Stadium is a huge factor as well – the thought of playing in front of so many fans in an iconic stadium in London. I already knew about it but they said it’s going to be an unbelievable time to play for the club and in front of so many people.

"But, to be honest, it really came down to the football side of things. That was the major point – the style of football, the way I can get better, the chance of fighting for my place.

"We are sixth in the table and there is the chance of Europa League or even Champions League football. And the squad are doing unbelievably well. Everything about it is moving in the right direction."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in