Flynn Downes revealed he was only made aware of West Ham's interest in him during a Swansea City training session earlier this week.
The midfielder was expected to join Crystal Palace, although his boyhood club West Ham made a late move to secure his services. As a result of the transfer speculation surrounding his future, he missed Swansea's pre-season clash with Colchester United at Fairwood on Tuesday.
After Swansea accepted an offer from the Hammers, Downes officially sealed a £9m move to the London Stadium on Thursday in a deal that could be worth up to £14m with add-ons. And the 23-year-old has opened up on how he found out about the interest from David Moyes' side.
"The move happened very quickly," he told the club's official website. "The first I heard about the move was a couple of days ago. I went into training and I was told ‘West Ham have put an offer in’ and I was like ‘Woah’.
"It didn’t feel real to be honest, but I’m just glad to be here and I can’t wait. It didn’t take too much thinking to come here. Like I said it’s been my boyhood dream to come here since I was a kid so it was a no brainer. My phone has blown up with all this going on, so it’s been crazy.
"I feel like I haven’t slept in three days, but it’s unbelievable. It doesn’t feel real. It’s just surreal really, really surreal. If Real Madrid had come in for me, I was still coming here. That’s as simple as it is really."
Downes has signed a five-year contract with the Hammers - who hold the option to extend that deal by 12 months.
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