West Ham United’s latest signing Nene says he is looking forward to his new challenge in the Premier League.

The Brazilian has been brought in by manager Sam Allardyce as cover following the loss of England forward Andy Carroll for the rest of the season due to a knee injury.

Having left Qatar side Al-Gharafa in January, Nene has been a free agent and was linked with a move to Upton Park some weeks ago.

Now that a deal is over the line until the end of the season, Nene is looking forward to trying to prove himself in the Premier League, as West Ham look to have a strong end to the season and secure European football for next term.

He said: “I am very excited and happy to be here. I’m proud to come to a really big club like West Ham and I’m going to do my best to help the team.

“I’ve been thinking about coming back to Europe for a few months because here the football, the ambience, everything is better.

“It’s a really good challenge for me, to come to a competition like the Premier League. It’s the most competitive in the world so this is the motivation for me.”

Nene will be hoping to feature at some point on Sunday when West Ham make the short trip across the capital to take on rivals Tottenham Hotspur.

The Hammers are 4.38 to win, 3.57 to draw and Spurs are 1.78 to win at White Hart Lane.