Alan Pardew will come up against a player he tried to sign this summer when West Ham travel to Leicester City on the first day of the season.
But it will be another of Alan's summer captures, Teddy Sheringham, who will be doing his best to ensure he has a miserable afternoon on his Foxes debut.
Alan did make a move for Martin Keown in the close-season after he left Arsenal, and he reveals:
"We enquired about Martin and it would have been nice to have him at West Ham because he is a very experienced player who has had a fantastic career.
"Knowing Martin, he will want to achieve something in what might be his last year in football."
As for the duel with Teddy, he adds:
"They are good friends and sometimes that makes players even more competitive when they come up against each other."
David Connolly will be playing against the Hammers, and Alan says:
"You don't want to lose good players, but ultimately we weren't good enough last season and I sold David to bring in Teddy and Rebrov. Obviously, we won't know if that was the right move until the end of the season."
Alan is a big fan of Leicester boss Micky Adams, and adds:
"I like Micky. He has his way of playing the game, it is a fair way, and his teams are always organised and competitive - it will be a severe test for us."
"I think they have been tipped to win the league and Micky Adams knows how to get out of this division.
"He has got a fantastic record as a manager and his signings are astute ones.
"This is a big, big game on the first day of the season, but you have to go to Leicester at some stage, so the first day is as good as any other day.
"At least we can size each other up and after the game we will have some idea a just how strong the pair of us are."