West Ham have signed Republic of Ireland U19 winger Armstrong Oko-Flex.
The 19-year old has spent the past two seasons with Celtic. Oko-Flex was originally a St. Kevin's Boys player who graduated to the Arsenal youth set-up in 2018 following a recommendation from Liam Brady.
Oko-Flex made substitute appearances for Celtic against both Hibernian and Livingston in the Scottish Premiership last season. However, he's signed for the Premier League club after the expiry of his contract in Glasgow.
“I feel very good to have signed,” Oko-Flex told West Ham TV. “It’s good to sign for a big club like West Ham United.
“I’m very excited to get started here. There are a lot of positives around West Ham and it’s just a great Club to be at right now.
“I know a lot of the boys here already. I trained with some of them when I was younger, and I’ve played against some of them as well, so it’s been good settling in and the coaches have welcomed me in very nicely as well.
“I want to thank God first and foremost, and my family and my team around me – without them, none of this would have been possible.
11 October 2019; Armstrong Oko-Flex of Republic of Ireland during the Under-19 International Friendly match between Republic of Ireland and Denmark at The Showgrounds in Sligo. Photo by Sam Barnes/Sportsfile"I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”
West Ham Academy director Ricky Martin said, "Armstrong is someone that we’ve been tracking and monitoring for several months now.
“We knew that he would be available in the summer, and we were absolutely delighted to invite him in for a couple of weeks at the end of last season.
"He came in, trained with the U23s, did really well and impressed the coaches and players.
“He’s someone that we’re really excited to sign to the Club and include as part of our U23s squad going forward. Alongside Thierry Nevers and Pierre Ekwah, he completes the hat-trick of signings that we’ve made this summer.
“We hope he will have a very successful career with the Club.”
Oko-Flex has played for England at U16 level, while his parents hail from Nigeria.
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