West Ham manager Slaven Bilic has tipped latest signing Andre Ayew to hit the ground running when the season gets underway.
The 26-year-old completed a £20.5 million transfer from Swansea on Monday, joining the likes of Havard Nordtveit, Sofiane Feghouli, Gokhan Tore, Arthur Masuaku, Ashley Fletcher, Antonio Martinez and Domingos Quina as the Hammers’ new additions.
Ayew joined Swansea only last summer from French outfit Marseille, but has seen an impressive first season cut short his stay at the Liberty Stadium.
“Yes [I expect Ayew to make an instant impact], I mean a lot of players make it straight away, and some need a little bit of time to adjust,” Bilic said at the official Premier League launch event in north London on Wednesday.
“His first big advantage is that he played in a big, big club like Olympique Marseille, he’s an international and is captain of Ghana and is at his best stage.
“He’s already spent one year in the Premier League so it’s nothing new for him.
“Sometimes wingers, strikers or offensive midfielders need a bit of time, while centre-backs are centre backs and are just doing their job and don’t depend on the team that much.
“The players are good in that they really make new players feel at home after a few days, so I’m sure we can expect some good football from the newcomers straightaway.”
Ayew notched 12 goals in 34 Premier League appearances for Swansea, ending his first season of English football as the top scorer of the Jack Army.
West Ham open their season with an away clash with Chelsea on Monday.
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