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When news of Joe Hart's impending arrival at the London Stadium was announced it was obvious from the off that three in to two would not work from a goal keeping perspective, so something had to give. Rumours persisted that it would be Adrian on his way out, possibly to Crystal Palace, but it has turned out to be Republic of Ireland keeper Darren Randolph with a move to Middlesborough for a fee of around £5 Million which seems to be a relatively good deal for all parties concerned.

West Ham United: Randolph, Adrian, Hart, Anang, Byram, Zabaleta, Cresswell, Masuaku, Collins, Ogbonna, Burke, Rice, Makasi, Kouyate, Lanzini, Feghouli, Snodgrass, Obiang, Noble, Fernandes, Cullen, Holland, Ayew, Fletcher, Martinez
Fulham FC: Bettinelli, Button, Fredericks, Odoi, Ream, Madl, Sigurdsson, Sessegnon, Djalo, McDonald, Kabano, Cairney, Johansen, Kavanagh, Cisse, Ayite, Woodrow, Aluko

The impending arrival of Javier Hernandez because West Ham are willing to trigger the £13m escape clause for the 29 year old Mexico international goal machine, will swiftly follow the one year loan deal for Manchester City and England goalkeeper Joe Hart and the club agreeing to pay Stoke £24 million for attacking winger Marko Arnautovic. Hernandez joined Bayer Leverkusen from Manchester United in 2015 and has since scored 28 goals in 45 League games.

For those who watched it, West Ham United's opening friendly match was rather one to forget, few positives were on show, mainly negatives! OK so Slaven Billic fielded two different teams for each half, hence some of the disjointed play, but first half saw Robert Snodgrass prove why he will go down as one of the club's worst ever purchases, at Hull he was a big fish in a small pond, at West Ham he looks totally out of his depth at despite what your personal opinion may be is a much 'bigger' club.

For a team in desperate need of at least one or probably two strikers given the frail state of health of both of Andy Carroll and Diafro Sakho, West Ham United's recruitment policy seems to be at a cross roads. Having acquired the services of ex- Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleto, the potential arrival of his former goal keeping colleague Joe Hart seems to indicate a shift in the emphasis in how things are going. Ironically building from the back is a Sam Allardyce principal but one which Slaven Billic appears to have embraced.

Up until last season West Ham United, Everton and several other clubs were able to borrow money against projected revenue from a Bermuda based 'pay day' loan company, however new legislation has meant that this facility can no longer be used, could this be the reason that West Ham United have done so little in the transfer market?

While the Phony transfer war is on we thought we would think about The 2018 World Cup in Russia which will be held in less than twelve months and when they aren’t cheering on their national teams, football fans will be keeping an eye out for their club players in action at the championships. Just three teams have qualified so far but 29 more will follow and West Ham United are expected to have a number of players involved next summer.

We were going to go live with an astonishing article based on what was supposed to be realistic information, however given that it is the time of the summer solstice and the Glastonbury Festival we eventually assumed someone had been already engaging in their pre-festival warm up activities. However this story has some strange 'legs' on it given who might be the player involved, suffice to say the two Davids love a coup especially Mr Sullivan! What would you do as an owner of a club who albeit wealthy cannot begin to compete with mega wealthy Uber Billionaires?

Reece Oxford is close to signing a season long loan move to Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach. West Ham's 18 year old star of the future spent five relatively unsuccessful months on loan at Reading last season, he has had a medical ahead of a move to Germany where it is hoped that he can hone his skills ready to take his place in the first team. Oxford was the second youngest player to start a Premier League match when he played against Arsenal, aged 16 years and 198 days, in August 2015.

West Ham's 2017-18 Premier League fixtures are out, with Slaven Bilic seeking a better start to the season than last time around.

That may be difficult with a trip to Manchester United up first, but the Hammers then face a run - Southampton, Newcastle, Huddersfield and West Brom - during which Bilic will be expected, and required, to pick up points.

The east Londoners will need to get points on the board before a tough December, with games against Man City, Chelsea and Arsenal in a row before the Christmas rush.