South American’s and West Ham have often been a decent mix and new boy Fabian Balbuena is hoping he will be one of those who follows what has often been a successful tradition.

In his first inteview he declared: “The South Americans that played here have always left a good impression, like both Tevez and [Javier] Mascherano, so this means West Ham is known in South America.  I hope I can do the same.”

Balbuena is following in the footsepts not only of  Tevez and Mascherano, but Mauro Zarate and current stars Manuel Lanzini and Pablo Zabaleta,

Others who have appeared in the claret and blue are: Ilan and Nene, Chileans Javier Margas and Luis Jimenez, Colombian Pablo Armero, Paraguayan compatriot Brian Montenegro, Peruvian playmaker Nolberto Solano, Ecuador striker Enner Valencia and Uruguayans Walter Lopez and Diego Poyet.

It doesn’t always work of course but then that’s probably true of players from every nation and it’s clear Balbuena’s ambitions are high.

He said: ““I’m going to work hard to be up to the demands of the league, do my job well and pay back the faith shown in me.

“We all know that the Premier League is the best league in the world and all players want to play here, so because of this I’m really motivated.

“Obviously to be at West Ham is an extra motivation, and I want to do my best to help the team. I know the Club’s history; that it was a London team with a lot of tradition. This was one of the reasons why I came here, because of the Club’s history within England.”