Former Leeds United fullback Sam Byram has explained choosing West Ham over Everton.

Thurrock-born Byram, whose family are Hammers fans, snubbed a move to Everton to sign for West Ham after speaking to Slaven Bilic.

He said: "I spoke to the manager and I really like the way he spoke about West Ham and how he likes to play, and how he could improve me was the main thing.

"As a young player the main thing you want to do is get better. He'd identified the areas he thinks I can improve on and explained how he would help me improve on them.

"There's the Olympic Stadium, the quality of players in the squad. In training I've been blown away by some of the things some of them do in training.

"I don't think anyone gets the ball off Dimitri Payet in training. He is very good on the ball, his dribbling, his vision, his touch, and everything about him.

"He's by far the best player I've had the pleasure of playing with.

"Stepping up to this level is only going to make me better. I'm really looking forward to the challenge."