10 things you need to know about Ilan

Published 08:19 02/02/10

West Ham have further bolstered their attacking options by signing the Brazilian striker Ilan. But what do we know about the former St Etienne hitman?

Hammers sign Mido and Ilan

1) Ilan Araujo Dall'Igna was born on September 18, 1980 in Curitiba, Brazil.

2) Despite being of Brazilian heritage, Ilan also holds an Italian passport - which will endear him no end to Gianfranco Zola.

3) He got his first break at local club Parana Clube, for whom he made his debut as a 19-year-old.

4) He made just 12 league appearances for Parana before moving to Sao Paulo in 2001. Ilan moved on again after just one season, but he did manage to win the Torneio Rio-São Paulo tournament while he was there.

5) Ilan finally put down some roots at his next club Atletico Paranaense. Indeed, he became something of a cult hero by scoring in the first leg of the 2001 Brazilian Championship final and helping the side to their first ever title.

6) After three years, in which Ilan notched 47 goals, despite spending much of 2002 on the physio's table and also earned three caps for the national side, he was edged out of the team by new signing, Washington Stecanela Cerqueira. Ilan duly upped sticks and moved to French side Sochaux in 2004.

7) An instant hit in Ligue 1, Ilan notched 13 goals in his first season and another 10 in his second - form that lead to a move to St Etienne in the summer of 2006.

8) Despite initially flourishing at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard, Ilan's relationship with the St Etienne management entered into a terminal decline at the start of the 2009-10 season, to the point where his contract was mutually terminated in January 2010 - six months before it was due to expire.

9) Ilan still notched 25 goals from his 95 league appearances at St Etienne - including a corker in a 2-0 victory over Paris Saint-Germain that was named the 2007 Ligue 1 goal of the year.

10) Here's the obligatory YouTube fan compilation of Ilan in action. The notoriously goal-shy Hammers will be hoping for a few strikes of this calibre in the months to come...