Upson signing completed

STOKE CITY today secured the signing of a second England international defender on a free transfer when Matthew Upson signed for the Club.

Upson's arrival at the Britannia Stadium on a two-year contract follows on from the recent capture of Jonathan Woodgate who was also a free agent.

The 32-year-old defender, who has been capped 21 times by England and played in the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa, became available this summer after his contract expired at West Ham United following their relegation from the Premier League.

Manager Tony Pulis expressed his delight at the fact that the Club had added another experienced defender with international pedigree to their squad.

"This is another fantastic deal for this Football Club when you consider the quality and experience of the lad and the fact that he is a free transfer," said Pulis.



"We now have strength in depth in our defence with both Matthew and Jonathan on board and we've managed to achieve that without a significant outlay on transfer fees, which is quite remarkable in today's market of vastly inflated prices.

"Their experience of performing at the highest level will be a valuable asset to us because we have some good young defenders and a young goalkeeper."

He added: "Matthew was anxious to stay in the Premier League following his departure from West Ham and he sees this move as the perfect opportunity for him to further his ambitions in the game at both club and international levels in the future."

Upson admitted that he was "very happy" to sign for the Potters once the Club had shown an interest in bringing him to the Britannia Stadium.

"The manager has talked to me about the culture here, the discipline and the organisation and that is an environment which I am looking forward to working in.

"There is a lot of competition for places here and that is part of the attraction. I will relish the fight for a spot because it draws the best out of the players."

Upson has been registered in time to feature in City's squad for the forthcoming Europa League ties against Swiss club FC Thun and will have squad number 20.

He will train with his new team-mates for the first time on Wednesday and then be in line for a place in Pulis' plans for the Premier League opener against Chelsea.

After emerging through the ranks at Luton Town, Upson made his initial impact with Arsenal, but also had spells out on loan at Nottingham Forest and Reading.

He had a four year spell with Birmingham City after a £3 million move to St Andrews and then joined West Ham in a £4 million deal in the January transfer window of 2007.

Having enjoyed his most consistent spell with the Hammers, he has made over 350 senior appearances in total throughout his playing career.



Source: www.stokecityfc.com