West Ham defender Vladimir Coufal is struggling to understand why Manchester United were prepared to let Jesse Lingard leave and has billed Declan Rice as "the best number six in the world".
A star-studded squad has been assembled by David Moyes in east London, with the quality at his disposal allowing a push for European qualification to be pieced together.
Two England internationals are leading that charge, with Rice taking on captaincy duty while Lingard has netted eight goals through nine games since securing a winter loan switch from Old Trafford.