Joël Piroe has explained his decision to leave Leeds United for West Ham this summer was partly motivated by the attraction of moving to London.
ESPN cover comments from the striker after he made an appearance, via phone, on the De Voetbalkantine Transfer Deadline Show.
Leeds for West Ham
The 27-year-old swapped Leeds for London this summer, joining he Hammers on a season-long loan deal. That includes an obligation for the Hammers to make the move permanent next summer under certain conditions.
He’s set to be the Hammers number one striker this season as they look to get out of the Championship at the first time of asking.
It’s a far cry from life at Leeds, where he struggled to convinced Daniel Farke to hand him a chance once they had returned to the Premier League. The Dutchman sees other benefits, though.
“London is obviously a much nicer city than Leeds. And West Ham has a team worthy of the Premier League,” he said.
“Just look at the stadium… Sold out, 60,000 fans – that’s not exactly the norm in the Championship. Especially in London, where West Ham United isn’t the biggest or most popular club.”
20 goal aim
Piroe already scored on his debut for West Ham, adding to his ever-growing tally of Championship goals. He’s now up to 74 goals and 18 assists in 182 games in the division, his best tally by far.
He’s now aiming to add to that tally this season, with 20 goals the bare minimum as far as he’s concerned.
“I feel like the Championship gave me the best opportunities to play a lot of matches,” he added.
“When you play a lot, you can showcase your qualities. That’s the main reason I chose a Championship team. You can play plenty of games and quickly find your rhythm. My goal is to score 20 goals.”
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