George John joins West Ham on loan deal

By George Georgakopoulos Greek-American defender George John has signed a two-month loan deal with English Championship team West Ham, with an option for a permanent move from March, the East London club announced on Friday. The 24-year-old center-back has enjoyed a solid season at FC Dallas and wishes to make the most of the offseason in Major League Soccer by testing the European waters for the first time in his career. He told the official West Ham United website: «Maybe it will take two or three weeks to give me some time to develop and get back in the swing of things. Hopefully it will be a bit faster but who knows. Hopefully I can impress and get some game time with the first team. I am really looking forward to it.” The deal allows Premiership hopeful West Ham to render the transfer permanent as of March 1 if it is satisfied with the player. No financial details of the deal have been disclosed. US national team coach Jurgen Klinsmann had called up John to a training camp ahead of friendly games with Venezuela and Panama, but gave the Greek American permission to skip the camp so as to complete his move to West Ham. John remains eligible to play for the Greek national team as he has held a Greek passport since last summer and has not yet played a competitive game for the US. He had been invited to join a Greece training camp last June in New York, when the national team was preparing to face Ecuador.