Fulham have announced a deal to sign Havard Nordtveit from Bundesliga side Hoffenheim on loan for the remainder of the season.
Claudio Ranieri has been desperate to add experience to Fulham’s squad all month in a bid to boost their chances of beating the drop.
The Cottagers failed to agree terms with Chelsea for veteran centre-back Gary Cahill earlier in the window and were reportedly also turned down by Manchester United captain Fulham.
Nordtveit endured a nightmare 12-month stint at West Ham and returns to the Premier League 18 months after leaving the east London outfit.
“I’m really happy to have the opportunity to come back to the Premier League and hopefully help Fulham to a safe place,” he told the club’s official website. “That would be something that I would put high on my list in my career.
“The situation Fulham is in now, it’s more or less the same that Borussia was in when I went to them from Arsenal. They were down the bottom of the table, a much worse situation, eight points off a safe place, and we made it.
“it’s a feeling that I want again because it’s a feeling you can’t get anywhere else, just on a football pitch. I haven’t spoken to Brede about coming here but he is a good friend of mine.
“Of course, nothing would make me more happy than if I could fill half of his boots. He had a great career here. That’s a guy to look up to. Hopefully, I can make some good moments, like he did in a Fulham shirt.”
Nordtveit, 28, only made eight league appearances during the first half of the season for Hoffenheim and garnered an unimpressive WhoScored rating of 6.40 in that time.
During his sole Premier League campaign with West Ham, Nordtveit only finished on the winning team in two of his 11 starts for the club.
