Sunderland have announced the signing of defender Aji Alese from West Ham for an undisclosed fee.
Alese joins Sunderland after coming through the Hammers' youth academy. He made his first-team in September 2020 in a 5-1 League Cup win over Hull and played three times as their under-21 side competed in last season's Papa John's Trophy.
The England Under-20 international enjoyed a loan spell at Accrington in the 2019-20 season, making 15 appearances in all competitions, and spent time with Cambridge in their League Two promotion season in 2020-21.
Alese, who has signed a three-year deal with an option for a fourth, told Sunderland's official website: “It's amazing to be here and I'm happy the deal is done.
I live five minutes away from West Ham's training ground and I've been there since the age of eight, so it could have been easier to stay but life isn't easy and I'm ready for the challenge.”
Manager Alex Neil added: “Aji is left-footed and he's really quick. I like having balance in my team and he was really pushing to get into West Ham's first team, so we felt it was a really good fit for us.
“More and more, I think young lads are realising that they need to get on the pitch and show what they can do. It is important that Aji comes here, shows his quality and gets into the team – that will be up to him, but he has already shown an appetite to play and the qualities that he brings are ones that I think we needed to add to the squad.”
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