PL 16/17 Predictions Series: West Ham United

My new series looks at the participants of the latest Premier League season. For previous posts, see below:

Arsenal, Bournemouth, Burnley, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Everton, Hull City, Leicester City, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Middlesbrough, Southampton, Stoke City, Sunderland, Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, Watford, West Bromwich Albion

Last season
Can be summed up by the signing and subsequent performances of one man: Dimitri Payet. Having transferred for a very reasonable £12m, the French magician proved his worth almost immediately, with chances being created each and every game, and popping up with the occasional important goal and outstanding free-kick.

Having made a blistering start to their season, with shocking away victories at first Anfield and the Etihad Stadium to beat the previously 100 per cent Manchester City, West Ham kicked on from their. In a season full of shocks, they spent a large part of the year challenging for the Champions League spots, before eventually fading away into the Europa League spots, only managing European football thanks to Manchester United's FA Cup win. Nevertheless, an outstanding first season for Slaven Bilic at the helm of the Hammers.

Backroom setup
Unsurprisingly, Bilic has been retained at the head of the London club, meaning that the key change has come off the field. Having spent 112 years at the famous Boleyn Ground, the Hammers have made the move across East London to the newly renovated Olympic Stadium, renamed the London Stadium.

With the new place holding upwards of 50,000, they'll be looking to make the new Olympic Stadium a real fortress in the opening weeks to make the Hammers fans comfortable in their surroundings.

Pre-season
Well if nothing else, it's been busy. However, it could certainly be argued that this pre-season has not been particularly successful, with the Hammers securing only one win from six games. This started with a 3-0 defeat to the Seattle Sounders, followed by consecutive 2-2 draws with second division US side Carolina RailHawks and Czech side Slovacko, though it should be mentioned that the Hammers saw a 2-0 lead slip in the latter game entering the final three minutes.

A 3-0 defeat to Rubin Kazan followed, before a win over Kahlsruher by the same scoreline, with Carroll, Feghouli and Fletcher on the scoreboard. Finally, West Ham welcomed Serie A champions Juventus to officially open the London Stadium in a game they narrowly lost 3-2 - two goals from Carroll not quite able to cancel out a trio from Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic and Simone Zaza.

However, more important was the fact that West Ham would be playing European football from the end of July. Drawn against little-known Slovenian side Domizale, West Ham struggled with conditions overseas, losing 2-1 in Ljubljana, but did overcome the Slovenians in East London, winning 4-2 on aggregate.

Squad and signings
The Hammers have also been busy in the transfer market, and were perhaps the first team to announce a signing, with Sofiane Feghouli announced from Valencia on a free before the summer had even started. Similarly, Havard Nordtveid left Borussia Monchengladbach for London for free, while there were undisclosed signings for strikers Toni Martinez and Domingos Quina, and loan moves for Gokhan Tore and Jonathan Calleri from Besiktas and Deportivo Maldonado respectively.

However, the Hammers' biggest signings were made more recently, with the £20.5m signing of Swansea attacking midfielder Andre Ayew arguably the biggest coup. The club also invested a further £6.25m in Arthur Masuaku from Olympiakos as they looked to sure up their defence.

On the outgoings, only James Tomkins has left, with the Hammers making £10m from his move to London rivals Crystal Palace. This will be pleasing to West Ham fans, providing the strength in depth required to fight on multiple fronts.

Tactics
Assuming Andy Carroll stays fit, I would certainly expect the Hammers to utilise the width and crossing ability of Payet and the aerial prowess of the Newcastle-born striker. Bilic also seemed to favour the use of wing-backs to provide a distraction, so expect Aaron Cresswell to be bombing on and stretching defences.

Predictions
While the squad has the quality to compete on three fronts, I would be surprised to see the Hammers experience the same success in the Premier League as they did last year, as their European exploits will have an effect on their league form. I'm going to go for a comfortable mid-table finish, but it would take a significant effort to keep the team around the European places come May.

Final position: 10th

Summer Transfer Window Series: 2015 Window Top 10 Reasonably-Priced Stars

To finish off my Summer Transfer Window series, I'm looking at some of the notable activity from this season's movement. In my latest post, I examined the 10 biggest money moves, and what the problems/pitfalls may be. Here, I'm going to take a leaf out to Top Gear's book - no cars, but everyone here was reasonably priced!

These are the transfers that have the potential to change the fortunes of the clubs involved, and for a relatively small outlay.

10. Petr Cech - Chelsea to Arsenal (£10.5m)
This one was tricky, and a close one between Bastian Schweinsteiger's move to Manchester United and Cech's switch to Arsenal. In the end, I went with the veteran goalkeeper, on the grounds that I feel he will play more first-team games than the German, and has the potential to save the Gunners the greater number of points. A position that was dearly required, Wenger moved swiftly to secure the services of Cech, who instantly repaid him with two bad errors in the team's 2-0 opening day defeat to West Ham. However, he is a true professional, and I'm confident that he will be great signing for Arsenal. Fans of the London club will be bemused that he is the only one, however...

9. Matteo Darmian - Torino to Manchester United (£12.5m)
Having broken onto the scene, and into the Italian national side, during his time at Torino, Matteo Darmian was added by Louis van Gaal to add attacking threat and defensive stability to Manchester United's right hand side. For £12.5m, he looks a good buy, with United so far looking fairly assured in their opening few games. He has yet to demonstrate his attacking capabilities to the full, but he has been a hit with the Old Trafford faithful, and will draw confidence from his strong opening form.

8. Salomon Rondon - Zenit St Petersburg to West Bromwich Albion (£12m)
If you'd have asked West Brom fans in July if they felt they could tempt a striker who was scoring goals in the Champions League last season, I'm sure many would have given an answer in the negative. Though relatively unknown on these shores, Salomon Rondon has been a proven goalscorer in Russia, winning numerous titles and accolades with Zenit St Petersburg. Though he is a slight gamble at £12m, Tony Pulis is notoriously good at getting the best out of his squad, and I'm sure it won't be long before we see the Venezuelan's full potential in the Premier League. As his performance against Chelsea proved, he has the potential to put seasoned defenders to the sword, and his power and ability should take West Brom into the safety of mid-table mediocrity, and maybe higher if he can stay injury-free.

7. Nathaniel Clyne - Southampton to Liverpool (£12.5m)
Given the clamour, and subsequent overpricing, of English players (for more, please see Raheem Sterling, Andy Carroll, Owen Hargreaves, Luke Shaw and Adam Lallana), the next two entries are more remarkable. After a strong season with Southampton, which saw the right-back establish himself in the England set-up, Nathaniel Clyne made the move to Merseyside for a surprisingly low fee of £12.5m. Given his age of just 24, Clyne is an outstanding signing, with plenty of time to improve both for club and country, and will certainly be an asset for Liverpool as they push towards the Champions League places once again this term.

6. Fabian Delph - Aston Villa to Manchester City (£8m)
To acquire an England international for under £10m is impressive in this day and age, and when it's someone under 25 and plenty of years ahead of him, it's almost remarkable. Fabian Delph has proven himself to be a future England central midfielder, leading Aston Villa to the FA Cup final last year with his composure and authority. After a confusing on again/off again transfer saga, which saw him posing in an Aston Villa shirt just six days before the announcement of City's move, then rejecting a move, before eventually making the switch to the Blues. Unfortunately, his career at City has started with a series of injuries (cue comparisons to Jack Rodwell and Scott Sinclair), but I am convinced he will add something to the squad in the long-term.

5. Georginio Wijnaldum - PSV Eindhoven to Newcastle United (£14.5m)
Though an expensive signing, the Dutchman answers a serious question that the Geordies had last year - how can we create more goals? With the failure of Remy Cabella and the exit of Yohan Cabaye, Newcastle have struggled to score enough to drag themselves away from danger, and much of the ire has been directed at Mike Ashley. However, the Sports Direct boss has put his hand in his pocket this year, added some strong creative talent to the Newcastle squad. At the tender age of 24, Wijnaldum has much to offer, and his debut goal against Southampton will have settled the nerves. He has European pedigree, and will certainly help Newcastle get back to were they should be.

4. Florian Thauvin - Olympique Marseille to Newcastle United (£12m)
Alongside Wijnaldum, Newcastle fans can be excited by the arrival of 22 year-old Florian Thauvin. One of the most creative players in Ligue 1 over the last season or so, he demonstrated his credentials in the 4-1 League Cup victory over Northampton, having a hand in all of Newcastle's goals. Ok, that was against a League Two side, but he was inches away from causing a shock at Old Trafford earlier in the season, and I'm sure he'll be terrorising defences up and down the country soon enough.

3. Dimitri Payet - Olympique Marseille to West Ham United (£12m)
It's surprised me that the man who was credited with creating the most chances of any in European football last season made the move to West Ham United, and for such a relatively small fee when compared to the fee generated by the man in second, Kevin De Bruyne. Though he is older, he is just 28, and will be coming into his prime in the coming years. He's already proven his worth at West Ham, creating a number of top quality chances, helping the Hammers win at both Anfield and The Emirates, and his set piece deliveries have defences worried. He looks an excellent signing.

2. Yohan Cabaye - Paris Saint Germain to Crystal Palace (£10m)
There aren't many signings each season that you have to wonder if you've just seen them - but this year we've had two, and it's been difficult to separate them. In the end, I've put Yohan Cabaye's move to Crystal Palace second. When the deal was announced, I thought this was not going to be beaten, with the commanding central midfielder a genius move in the market by Alan Pardew. However, the hair that split the two is the fact that Pardew has had the long-running relationship with Cabaye, having signed the Frenchman for Newcastle a few seasons ago. However, for Palace to attract players of the quality of Cabaye is outstanding, and for £10m is a deal that is more than value for money.

1. Xherdan Shaqiri - Inter Milan to Stoke City (£12m)
However, this one was absolutely out of the blue. Honestly, when Peter Crouch made the suggestion on Twitter back in June that Xherdan Shaqiri was considering a move to the Potteries, I genuinely thought he was joking. The diminutive Swiss has been at some of the world's most prestigious and celebrated clubs, and at just 23, is hardly past his best and looking to hang up his boots. Having struggled in his time at Inter Milan, he chose the move to the Premier League, and has already showed his value, providing an impressive assist from a free kick. He is perfectly built for the English league, and I'm sure will make a great addition to Stoke's more creative squad, now including the likes of Bojan, Afellay and Arnautovic - a far cry from the 'long ball team' of Rory Delap and Ricardo Fuller!

All in all, an impressive showing from some of the mid-table teams in the Premier League, attracting some enormous quality from around the globe. I think this is why the English league is the best in the world, and with the £5bn Sky TV deal to come into effect, teams are only going to have more money to play with in the coming years.