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West Ham have completed the signing of Enner Valencia, subject to a successful work permit hearing.

Valencia caught the eye of several European clubs with his performance for Ecuador during the World Cup, but the Hammers managed to lure him to Upton Park for an undisclosed fee.

Following the successful completion of his medical, the 25-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the club, but the transfer will only be confirmed once he has obtained a work permit.

“West Ham United are delighted to announce that exciting Ecuador international forward Enner Valencia will become the Club’s fifth summer signing, subject to a successful work permit hearing,” a statement on their official website read.

“Valencia, who impressed hugely in scoring three goals for his country at the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil, will join West Ham on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee.”

West Ham have already signed Aaron Cresswell, Cheikhou Kouyate, Mauro Zarate and Diego Poyet as Sam Allardyce looks to build a squad capable of finishing in the top ten.

Since January, Osvaldo has been on loan at Juventus, helping the Turin side to the Serie A title, having been exiled from Southampton for being involved in a series of disciplinary issues, the last of which was a training ground brawl with teammate Jose Fonte.

The 28-year-old, who has scored five goals in all competitions this season, only joined Southampton in August 2013, becoming their record signing when signed from Roma.

Juventus have the option of making the loan deal permanent this summer for a fee of £15.6m, but are reportedly unlikely to take up that option due to some disappointing performances for the club, managing just 325 minutes of action in Serie A.

And with Osvaldo set to move on, Valencia have emerged as the leading contenders for his signing, but they may need Southampton to lower their asking price for any permanent deal to take place. If not, they may have to be content with a season-long loan, having initially targeted the Italian international in January.

Roughly 60km separate El Madrigal and Mestalla.

Exactly 9 points separate Valencia and Villarreal with 10 matches left in the season.

No one knows exactly how many more millions in debt Valencia is in compared to Villarreal.

And if you take a look at saturday's Super Deporte, Villarreal apparently dont have a chance of going to Turin (venue of the final of this year's Europa League)

We have to move past last week's disappointment. As deflating as the draw seemed, there were a few positives. The return of Cani to the starting line-up is probably the biggest of them.

Return of Cani

Cani looked good and seemed to play within himself, understandable after such a long injury layoff. His return to the lineup should open the game for Giovani Dos Santos more than it was in the past month or so. With Oliver Torres likely to start again, offensively we look close to our full strength. That Philippe Senderos is hailed as savior of sorts underlines how inconsistent and bad they have been all season.

Back Problems

While our front 4 seems ok, our back four is a cause for concern. With the non-availability of Gabriel Paulista it looks like it is going to be Dorado-Musacchio in the heart of the defence. We could do a lot worse than this pairing but Dorado is made of fine bone china. Our most dependable and consistent starter in the back, Mario Gaspart will miss his first La Liga minutes due to a small injury. Amazing to know that he played all the minutes of all the 28 matches so far. I expect Pantic to play at RB.

Opponent and Tactics

This is a derby game. This is the last chance for Valencia to catch us for the Europa League spot. There is no doubt they will come out flying with a lot of energy. The crowd will be behind them (at least until the first signs that we are up for the fight). We need to be prepared and ready for an intense beginning and be able to withstand a lot of pressure.

Dani Parejo, Paco Alcacer, Eduardo Vargas, Jonas & Co can be very dangerous if you give them time and space on the ball. Like us, their weakest link is their defense. Senderos, probably one of their best defenders since they got him in the January transfer window, is out for this match.

I expect this to be a very open game in the first half. If we keep the score level or even get ahead by halftime, we will have a good chance to win the match. Our recent trips to Mestalla havent been good memories but we have won there in the past.

Squads and Lineups

Valencia 18

Alves, Guaita, Joao, Barragán, Víctor Ruiz, Vezo, Mathieu, Bernat, Keita, Javi Fuego, Oriol, Parejo, Fede, Michel,

Vinícius, Jonas, Vargas, Alcácer

Villarreal 18

Porteros: Asenjo y Juan Carlos, Musacchio, Jaume Costa, Dorado, Jokic y Pantic, Bruno, Cani, Trigueros,

Óliver Torres,Aquino, Tomás Pina y Moi Gómez, Giovani, Uche, Perbet y Jonathan Pereira

Valencia likely XI - 4-2-3-1

Alves:Joao Pereira - Ruiz - Mathieu - Bernat; Parejo - Keita ; Vargas - Alcacer - Fede - Jonas

Villarreal likely XI 4-4-2

Asenjo; Pantic - Dorado - Musacchio - Costa ; Oliver - Bruno - Pina - Cani ; Gio - Uche