French-born of Ghanaian Pierre Emmanuel Ekwah Elimby has joined English Premier League side West Ham United from Chelsea, signing a three-year contract.

The Hammers announced the signing of the teenager for an undisclosed fee.

The French-born of Ghanaian descent completed his switch to West Ham, having gone for series of trial with other clubs.

The 19-year-old signed for the Hammers on an initial three-year deal, with the option to extend for a further year.

Ekwah had previously spent two weeks on trial in Claret and Blue, featuring in the U23s’ final two Premier League 2 Division 1 matches of the 2020/21 season – both against Arsenal – and scoring in the latter one.

A powerful defensive midfielder, also capable of dropping into the back line, Ekwah is pleased to be continuing his development within West Ham and the Academy of Football.

“I feel really good signing for West Ham,” Ekwah told West Ham TV. “I’m really happy in myself. I want to thank the Club for the opportunity they have given me. It’s a big achievement for me.

“I really think that West Ham is a Club where everyone is working all together. The U23s and the first team work really closely to each other, and I think that young players here have got a good chance of breaking into the first team, as they have done in the past.

“Loads of young players have reached the first team: Declan Rice has been captain, and he’s so young and playing so well. Mark Noble is an unbelievable player who’s been there and done the same. I just want to do similarly to them.

“When West Ham gave me the opportunity to come in for two weeks, I took it, saw how the Club worked, and I just enjoyed it. They gave me the opportunity to sign and I said ‘Yeah, I’m taking this shirt away!'"

He was born in a small village of Avrainville, situated in the department of Essonne just south of Paris, Ekwah counts RC Arpajonnais and Bretigny FCS among his youth clubs.

The midfielder enjoyed three formative years as a teenage footballer at the highly renowned national academy INF Clairefontaine, whose graduates include the likes of Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and Kylian Mbappé.

Ekwah subsequently spent a year with Ligue 1 side FC Nantes, before joining Chelsea’s Academy in the summer of 2018, where he made his Premier League 2 and UEFA Youth League debuts as a 16-year-old.