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Now that Mario Husillos is at the helm of West Ham United player recruitment fans could be forgiven for believing that the Hammers' hierarchy, particularly David Sullivan had taken a step back from the active end of things, however given the recent and impending transfer activity the question has to be asked "Has Kia Joorabchian become David Sullivan in absentum?".

The 'Pilgrim' bandwagon has finally got it's wheels firmly on track as new West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini along with new head of recruitment Mario Husillos begin to shape the squad of players available according to their own blue print, first up on their rebuilding programme was to 'deal' with the team's chronic defence.

West Ham are set to confirm both the £7 Million signing of Lukasz Fabianski from relegated Swansea and the signing of phenomenal central defender Issa Diop from Toulouse within the next couple of days. Diop underwent a medical at the Spires Hospital yesterday ahead of completing his €25 Million move from the French Ligue 1 club on a five year contract.

West Ham United begin the 2018/9 Premier League season with an away match against Liverpool, the news of which was leaked a fortnight ago! The rest of the season's fixtures are listed below* kindly note that all these fixtures are currently just provisional as the TV companies have yet to decide which games they will be broadcasting, also dates may change as a result of domestic and european cup competitions.

August 11: Liverpool (a) 18: Bournemouth (h) 25: Arsenal (a)

September 1: Wolves (h) 15: Everton (a) 22: Chelsea (h) 29: Manchester United (h)

When one of our members in Austria contacted us to ask our opinion about Marko Arnautovic's injury picked up during the Home team's 3-0 friendly defeat by Brasil, we were taken aback and, still reeling from the news of Manuel Lanzini's dreadful anterior cruciate injury, somewhat in shock..only could it happen to West Ham! Then we saw a news clip which featured 'Arnie' and his national team manager laughing about how he would deal with the injury, which then transpired to be a fractured wrist incurred against Brasil.

West Ham have listed the club's pre-season friendly dates, one of which will include an intriguing match against newly relegated Aston Villa at Wallsall's Bescot Stadium on the evening of July the 25th at 19:45 Hrs.

West Ham United having confirmed the free transfer of Ryan Fredericks from cross town neighbours Fulham on a four year deal, and with the impending arrival of Felipe Anderson, Marlon Santos, Armando Izzo and Javier Pastore gaining huge press coverage things definitely seemed to be on the up at the London Stadium or the 'Souless Dome' as away supporters like to chant in order to taunt the home fans.

The devastating news regarding Manuel Lanzini's injury has had a marked effect on the Argentine football squad, particularly the 'little jewel's' mentor Lionel Messi. Lady luck can be cruel and in Lanzini's case extremely so, while the super stars of his home country commiserate, his new manager Manuel Pellegrini and hordes of Hammers fans around the World will have been left shell shocked by the loss of the club's most creative player that most assumed the team would have been built around.

Just when things were looking on the up for West Ham fans as they anticipated a brighter future under the guidance of Manuel Pellegrini, unwelcome news has emerged from the Argentine camp preparing for the World Cup in Russia that Hammers star Manuel Lanzini has suffered a severe Anterior Knee Ligament injury during training.

It is becoming increasingly obvious that Manuel Pellegrini's West Ham transfer war chest is at least asthmatic and at worst approaching terminal given his recent comments, so the need for top class freebies will probably be the order of the day, much to the chargrin of many supporters who are experiencing potential player target ground hog day! Never mind, every cloud has a silver lining doesn't it?