Rat enters Upton Park while fee agreed with Liverpool for Andy Carroll

It’s been a busy day for West Ham United with the capture of Romanian captain Razvan Rat on loan and a fee agreed with Liverpool to sign Andy Carroll permanently.

By Declan Whooley

After a season long-loan at the Hammers, the London club have agreed a fee of £15 million to bring Carroll to the club permanently. The 24 year-old scored seven goals in 24 appearances for the Hammers and his former club Newcastle were also rumoured to be interested.

It is now up to the player to decide if he wants to make the switch, but one man who will definitely be at the club next season is Shakhtar Donetsk defender and Romanian captain Razvan Rat.

The 31-year-old left-back will sign an initial one-year deal when his contract expires on 1 July and the club have the option to extend Rat's contract by one or two years at the end of the 2013/14 campaign.

A vastly experienced player, he has 88 caps for his country and has seven league titles to his name in 10 years with the Ukranian club. He played in both of Shakhtar's Champions League games against Chelsea earlier this season.

“He speaks perfect English, which he taught himself, and that shows the discipline and the character of the man. Discipline, character and ability are the three big things in the Premier League,” Sam Allardyce told the club website.

An ability to speak English, discipline and ability are three things which Carroll has struggled to show at various times in his career, but his stint at West Ham has allowed him recapture his confidence after the £35 million move to Liverpool and could help kick-start his career.