On the 19th of May, 2012, West Ham secured promotion back to the Premier League at the first attempt, defeating Blackpool 2-1 in the Championship Play-Off final in dramatic fashion thanks to an 87th minute winner from Ricardo Vaz Te.
Only three of the 13 men that featured that day remain at the club, what happened to the other 10? We had a look at where they are now earlier this month.
With so much squad turnover, West Ham have made a remarkable 39 first-team signings since the summer of 2012, but not all of them work out.
Like I said, not all of them work out, but a lot of them have. We’ve ranked West Ham’s 10 best signings since their promotion taking into account value for money and their performances.
Bargains everywhere!
10) Sofiane Feghouli
He’s only been officially a West Ham player for 10 days or so, but bringing in a player of Feghouli’s ability on a free transfer is a stunning piece of business.
The 26-year-old will light up the Premier League much like Payet did.
9) Diafra Sakho
When he first joined for £3.5m from FC Metz, none of knew who he was or how good he was.
12 goals later in his debut season, Sakho was the man we were pinning our hopes and dreams on.
He proved to be a capable goalscorer at the highest level for a relatively low cost – a bargain.
8) James Collins
Re-signing James Collins in our first season back in the Premier League for £2m was arguably one of Allardyce’s finest moves.
He’s proved to be a dependable performer when called upon and has offered us great cover at the heart of the back four.
7) Michail Antonio
None of us expected Michail Antonio to have the impact he had in his first season at the club.
A £7m arrival from Nottingham Forest last summer, Antonio constantly found the back of the net in crucial moments, scoring critical goals in the wins over Tottenham, Everton and Manchester United, not to mention winners against Sunderland and Aston Villa.
Without him, we’d have been languishing in mid-table.
6) Cheikhou Kouyate
A snip at £7m, Kouyate has been the driving force in West Ham’s midfield the last two seasons he just doesn’t stop running.
He covers so much ground and allows Mark Noble to play his natural game because he puts in the hard yards and also comes up with a number of important goals every season.
5) Angelo Ogbonna
A really astute buy from Juventus, Ogbonna has seamlessly transitioned from Italian to English football this past season.
His athleticism and ability on the ball has been a huge positive for the Hammers this season allowing them to build from the back.
He will go down as a Hammers great if he keeps up his level of performances.
4) Manuel Lanzini
The little jewel indeed.
He has all the ability in the world and can create something out of nothing – Lanzini has that spark every team craves.
People can talk on and on about Payet but often last season Lanzini would out perform the Frenchman and he will only get better with time.
At £8m, the club have got themselves a bargain in the 22-year-old.
3) Adrian
A free transfer from Real Betis, no one really expected much from Adrian.
The flamboyant keeper rapidly became West Ham’s first choice and is a proper fan favourite in East London.
He will go down in history for that penalty he scored against Everton.
2) Aaron Cresswell
£3.5m. Hammer of the Year in his debut season.
Cresswell’s consistency the last two years have been quintessential in the Hammers’ success.
His marauding runs down the left cause the opposition havoc, and he also has a keen eye for goal.
It’s criminal he hasn’t been given an England cap.
1) Dimitri Payet
The goat. The actual goat.
Payet, should he stay, will have a Di Canio-like affinity with the fans at West Ham who treat him like a divine being.