West Ham have signed Alvaro Arbeloa on a one-year deal after he completed a medical on Wednesday afternoon.
The 33-year-old left-back left Real Madrid at the end of his contract in June.
Sky sources understand the Hammers see the former Liverpool player as a mentor rather than replacement for right-back Sam Byram.
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And they are hoping his addition will also liberate Michail Antonio to play further forward from the start of games.
Arbeloa told West Ham TV: “For me, this is a great chance to be back in England and in the Premier League, which is a fantastic league and I want to put myself here again. This is a big Club and a great Club with fantastic players and a great coach.
“Slaven wants to see me training as soon as possible. I was talking with [Croatia internationals] Luka Modric and Matteo Kovacic and they told me good things about the coach, so I want to work with him and hopefully I can learn a lot of things.”
Arbeloa is a veteran of European football with 53 caps for Spain between 2008 and 2013, and over 50 appearances in the Champions League.
He began his career in the Real Madrid academy but made the grade at Liverpool after a successful season at Deportivo La Coruna.
He signed for Liverpool for £2.6m in 2007 and made 95 appearances for the Reds before a £3.5m move to Real in 2009.
