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Hammers begin their Europa Cup campaign this Thursday evening against little known Serbian side FK TSC Bačka Topola, while the name is new to many the club has been around since 1913, so they are hardly novices! This could well be a tricky tie with Hammers expected to 'roll over' teams they meet in the early group stages, but make no mistake TSC as they are more commonly know will be NO pushovers!

Newcastle are the latest club to have 'expressed an interest' in acquiring Hammers mercurial midfielder Lucas Paqueta, and the Toon are apparently prepared to offer the princely sum of £50 Million for the Brazilian who signed for Hammers last season in a deal that would be finally worth around £52 Million with add ons!

So why on earth would West Ham even countenance the sale of Paqueta? Well as is common knowledge, EVERY player has his price and Hammers were offered around £80 Million for 'Pacman' before the betting scandal engulfed the deal putting it on hold.

For a brief moment in time on a gloriously sunny day, West Ham managed to put reining Champions Manchester City's nose out of joint! Of course things reverted to type after the interval but boy was it fun while it lasted. City are a behemoth of a team that invariably crush all their opponents asunder, but at least Hammers gave it a good go, especially in the 1st half.

West Ham: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Alvarez, Soucek, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta, Bowen, Antonio.
Subs: Fabianski, Cresswell, Fornals, Kudus, Mavropanos, Ings, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Kehrer.

Man City: Ederson, Walker, Dias, Gvardiol, Akanji, Rodri, Silva, Foden, Alvarez, Doku, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Phillips, Ake, Gomez, Nunes, Bobb, Lewis.

There is boring and then there is VERY boring, well very boring is hardly enough to describe the long running 'will he or won't he?' Jesse Lingard to West Ham transfer saga. Fans and those associated with the club have become 'sick as a parrot' with the on off transfer which initially goes back to when the player returned to his parent club Manchester United following an incredibly successful loan spell that saw the midfelder called back into the full England Squad.

Hammers host arguably the best team in World club football managed by the probably the best manager in existence tomorrow in London with few people giving the home team a prayer against the imperious 'Citizens'. On paper that assumption is correct and it is very likely the Irons will lose their unbeaten status in the Premier League.

Hammers have until lunchtime today to confirm their full squad to the various footballing authorities, one name that will either be there or not will be that of Jesse Lingard. The lingard to West Ham 'transfer' has been an on off soap opera that could rival Eastenders with the complexity of its storyline.

Having witnessed Harry 'Mc'Guire' scoring Scotland's only goal in their 3-1 defeat by England, many fans who hadn't already asked the question "why on earth were Hammers pursuing the signing of the Manchester United ex-captain?" will now have had there answer!

Going into what many see as a 'dead rubber' game against arguably the best team in club football managed by the best manager in the world, Hammers could have done with a full compliment of uninjured players, alas it seems that will NOT be the case.

Whenever there is an International break, fans are proud to see their players go off and represent their various countries, whereas team managers invariably spend the time their players are away worrying about injuries that might get picked up.

Following on from our West Ham are massive missive, we thought we should reaffirm the lack of real Hammers news during the International break. Sites that rely on click through revenue will come up with anything and everything in order to maintain their revenues, which of course they are perfectly entitled to do and indeed in most cases need to do in order to pay their running costs.