WEST HAM UNITED have signed Samir Nasri on a short-term contract until the end of the season.

Nasri, 31, has been training with the Hammers in recent weeks while serving the final spell of an 18-month doping ban which ends on Monday.

The initial deal runs until next summer with an option to extend it.

“I am very pleased to welcome Samir to West Ham United,” said manager Manuel Pellegrini, with whom Nasri won a Premier League title at Manchester City.

“He is a player I obviously know well from our time together at Manchester City and I am happy to be working with him again.

“He has been working very hard here in recent weeks to build up his fitness and condition after a long period without playing, and he is now very determined to return to his best.”

Nasri was handed an initial six-month doping ban by Uefa earlier this year for using a prohibited intravenous drip treatment in 2016.

The ban was later extended to 18 months, but backdated to July 2017 to run until 31 December 2018, with the French international allowed to return to training in November.

“Coming back to the most competitive league in the world, with a team full of ambition with a manager that I know. It’s the best job in the world, and I’m really excited about it,” he said.

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