NEW YORK - 13 January 2012 - As West Ham United pushes towards an immediate return to the English Premier League, manager Sam Allardyce has bolstered his squad with the acquisition of 24-year-old Greek-American center-back George John on a two-month loan from Major League Soccer club FC Dallas. West Ham holds an option through 1 March to make the loan a permanent transfer. FC Dallas begins the 2012 MLS season on 11 March.

As MLS is currently in its off-season, John is now in a race to fitness, and is expected to be available for selection by late January. John told West Ham’s official website: “"We will see how it goes. Maybe it will take two or three weeks to give me some time to develop and get back in the swing of things. Hopefully it will be a bit faster but who knows. Hopefully I can impress and get some game time with the first team. I am really looking forward to it.”

In August 2011, Blackburn Rovers made a $2 million bid to acquire John, but the deal broke down in the final stages. Since then, John had attracted interest from several more English clubs, including Aston Villa, Everton, Wigan, and Queens Park Rangers, before West Ham stepped in.

Earlier this month, John was called by to the U.S. national team by manager Jurgen Klinsmann in preparation for friendly matches against Venezuela and Panaman, but John skipped camp, with Klinsmann’s permission, to finalize the move to West Ham.