Kevin Nolan leaves Newcastle to join West Ham United

Posted on June 17, 2011 by SoccerPunter

The 28-year-old, who played under Hammers manager Sam Allardyce at Bolton Wanderers, has joined the English Championship side for an undisclosed fee, believed to be up to 3.9 million pounds ($6.4m).

“Having the chance to link up with Sam again is a massive thing,” said Nolan on the West Ham website. “West Ham have shown a certain hunger and desire to make sure that I became their player.

“I’m very sad to leave Newcastle but I’m coming to another massive club in my eyes, and hopefully I can be as successful as I was there.

“I’ve come to West Ham because of the tradition of the club and everything about it.”

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew admitted the Magpies could not reach an agreement with their skipper over the length of his new contract.

And Nolan added: “The be-all and end-all was that this club wanted me and the owners put faith in me and have given me a security of contract. Now it’s my time to repay them and hopefully I will do that.”

Allardyce will be hoping Nolan can repeat his heroics of two seasons ago, when his 17 goals helped the Magpies bounce straight back into the Premier League after their relegation to the second tier.

The deal is a real coup for Allardyce, who has landed a player he knows well from their successful spell together at Bolton and who hit 12 top-flight goals last term.

Nolan’s departure from St James’ Park, after he failed to agree an extension to his contract, has not gone down well on Tyneside, with fellow midfielder Joey Barton admitting the news made him feel “devastated”.

“Great player, leader, captain, person, trainer and mostly a friend for life. Devastated to see him SOLD!” wrote Barton on his Twitter account on Wednesday.

“#mejoseandjonasnext,” he added, in reference to himself, left-back Jose Enrique and winger Jonas Gutierrez, suggesting Nolan’s exit could spark a player exodus at St James’ Park.