Joint-Chairman David Gold reflects on a busy summer of transfer activity and looks ahead to the opening Premier League game against Chelsea on Monday night.....
The countdown is finally over and we are now preparing for the first Premier League game of the season.
It has been a long summer but I think the business we have done overall has been incredible and I have to pay tribute to David Sullivan, Slaven Bilic, Tony Henry and Andrew Pincher for all the hard work they have put in to ensure we have had a near perfect window.
There are number of top clubs across Europe who are looking to sign a striker who can score over 20 top flight goals a season, but when it comes down to it there are probably only ten forwards who can do that and all the top Clubs are chasing them.
We can still be very excited over the signings we have made and our fans should not forget that we have made a Club record signing and the arrival of Andre Ayew is a major coup for the football club.
Slaven has shown that he wants players who can show versatility and Andre fits that bill.
He can operate anywhere along the frontline and when you get injuries, you want players who can be that versatile.
Michail Antonio is a great example of that, while young players like Sam Byram have also shown he can play in different positions and that is key.
Andre certainly gives Slaven options and he is a game changer. It is a big factor that he has Premier League experience as some of the top players take time to adapt and settle in. We know that he can play straight away.
It is also valuable that he has played with Dimitri Payet and they had a great relationship together at Marseille. They know each other very well and we are hoping they can have another great partnership at West Ham.
We also secured the £6.2million signing of Arthur Masuaku from Olympiacos and that would have been a Club record ten-years ago, so we are very excited over his signing as well.
He is a talented player and will be a major addition to the squad. The strength is key to our squad.
We have also brought in Jonathan Calleri on a season-long loan who is one of the best young prospects in South America and we are all excited to see him in action.
All attentions now turn to the opening game against Chelsea on Monday night. We have won the right to be optimistic ahead of these big games and I am confident that wherever we go, we are capable of getting a good result.
Chelsea are one of the top clubs in Europe and have a top class manager who is hugely experienced.
They have top players, but I believe we can get something from the game. We showed against the big teams away from home last season that we were capable of getting a result and there is no reason we cannot do the same thing again.
Our fans will turn out in their numbers once again and we will have magnificent support at Stamford Bridge. Why can't we make it the perfect start to the season and come away with a positive result.