West Ham United were one of the busiest clubs in the Premier League during the summer transfer window.
The fact of the matter is West Ham needed to be busy.
Julen Lopetegui and Tim Steidten were left with the Premier League’s smallest squad of just 17 players when July 1st rolled around.
Backed by the Hammers board to the tune of £155m, West Ham signed nine new players as 12 departed.
The overhaul has taken time to get going under Lopetegui.
But there have been signs things are slowly but surely improving.
Confirmation of that arrived during West Ham’s 4-1 victory over Ipswich on Saturday.
It was the club’s first league home win of the season at the fourth attempt.
And it was arguably their best performance and victory of 2024 given the 32 games prior had yielded just seven wins.
Michail Antonio rolled back the years with a solid display.
He got West Ham off to the best possible start by scoring inside a minute with his first touch.
Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta added the others after Ipswich had equalised.
That meant all of Lopetegui’s scorers on the day were players already at West Ham when he arrived.
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Antonio names two new signings who’ve made biggest difference
Several of the club’s summer arrivals helped lay the foundation for the morale-boosting victory, though.
The quality of West Ham’s window business was outstanding.
But the inauspicious start to the new campaign had seen some cast doubts over the choices made by Steidten and Lopetegui.
Yesterday helped put a lot of that to bed, though.
Now Antonio has named the two new signings who’ve made the biggest difference to West Ham.
As one of the club’s longest-serving players of his generation, Antonio is well-placed to offer his opinion on the comings and goings in east London.
Having been with the Hammers for nearly a decade, Antonio has seen countless players come and go.
Four of the nine summer signings started for the Hammers against the Tractor Boys in the shape of Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Max Kilman, Jean-Clair Todibo and Guido Rodriguez.
Another two, Crysencio Summerville and Carlos Soler, came on in the second half.
And there was even an outing for the lesser spotted Luis Guilherme, who was West Ham’s first capture of the summer.
With Wes Foderingham unlikely to see much action as the Hammers’ third choice ‘keeper and Niclas Fullkrug injured, that means all of the club’s other new arrivals were involved in the 4-1 victory over Ipswich.
There are two in particular who have impressed Antonio, though.
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Antonio raves about Wan-Bissaka and Todibo at West Ham
Those being Wan-Bissaka and Todibo, who were both excellent at the London Stadium.
“Aaron and Jean-Clair have both got lots of qualities, and they’ve been great additions to the team,” Antonio told West Ham’s website.
“Aaron did great things at Manchester United for a number of years, so it was amazing to bring him in.
“And Jean-Clair is great on the ball, as well as being strong and fast. It’s exciting and encouraging for the whole team going forward (to have them).”
Wan-Bissaka has, on the whole, been excellent defensively and going forward since arriving.
The £15m capture is a massive upgrade at right-back and has shown versatility to shine at left-back too when needed.
It’s easy to see why Antonio has chosen those players as the two who have made the biggest impact.
Todibo’s man of the match performance against Ipswich really made a statement.
It oozed quality on and off the ball.
And it’s clear he has everything in the locker to establish himself as one of the best defenders in the Premier League.
For Antonio to say someone is strong is some compliment.
Kilman should be in the conversation too after his own excellent start to life at West Ham.
But most West Ham fans will probably agree with Antonio’s picks.
Summerville has impressed as well but has not had much game time thus far.
The hope will be Fullkrug can make a similar impact to Todibo, Wan-Bissaka and Kilman when he eventually gets himself fit and playing.
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