A man walked into a pub (this is not the start of a joke, but it might as well be)…

It is a pub close to me. And he is a Tottenham fan. And he said: ‘Here’s one for you Martin for this season… West Ham to finish fourth.’

I had to steady myself and check if he had been at the shots.

His opinion was based on West Ham’s triumphant transfer window. At the time, they had made six signings. By the time I had started writing this column they had signed two more, including Aaron Wan-Bissaka from Manchester United. I hope that’s not a deal too good to be true.

It’s certainly been a productive window. I like Niclas Fullkrug a lot. The centre forward has Bundesliga and international pedigree with Germany.

He won’t run the channels, but will stay between the posts and I expect him to be active around the danger zone, when West Ham’s recent threat has come with more goals from wide — from the new captain Jarrod Bowen. Also Mohammed Kudus. And now they have added Crysencio Summerville from Leeds.

They certainly have attacking threat, with Lucas Paqueta pulling the strings, but fourth? No, not for me. If they can challenge the top eight that will be a successful season with a new manager, Julen Lopetegui. David Moyes is a hard act to follow.

Signing a lot of players creates its own demands. How quickly can they gel? How will they settle? When will they be first-team ready? Pre-season results have been poor, although nobody will care when they kick off at 5.30 tonight.

The biggest window I was involved in as a player was when Arsene Wenger signed Marc Overmars and Emmanuel Petit in the summer of 1997. We won the Double that season,

Aston Villa, Saturday’s visitors to the London Stadium, are another club going through change as they embrace a Champions League season. It’s bonkers to have sold Douglas Luiz. Amadou Onana (he cost £50million!) is a downgrade.

Like West Ham, they have been creative in the market and there will be new faces on show for them, too. There is a lot of talk about Hull’s stand-out from last season, Jaden Philogene, a winger with bags of skill. Let’s have a good look at him.

I fancy a hard-fought draw and a season of challenge as they look to repeat a top-four finish, but with a large European distraction this time.

It will be interesting to see who finishes highest out of these two teams. Perhaps West Ham could use Villa as their pacemaker through the season. Can they keep up?

Eyes on the new sides

I want to see the three promoted teams fare better than last season.

Luton brought something to the Premier league, but Burnley and Sheffield United did not do themselves justice. This time, how can Southampton, Leicester and Ipswich cope with the demands of the big time?

After back-to-back promotions, Ipswich boss Kieran McKenna is someone we will be watching closely. Ipswich start with Liverpool at home on Saturday and Manchester City away next Saturday, but I have high hopes for them. I’m glad McKenna stayed where he is.

I like it that they start at Portman Road. I always enjoyed playing there. It’s good to welcome them back against one of the heavyweights.

Goodbye to a friend

We said goodbye to Kevin Campbell this week, an old team-mate of mine and a very decent human being.

I first came across him when, aged 19 and a first-team player at Arsenal, I was asked to train the kids on a Thursday night as part of my development.

I loved it and this boy stood out, twice the size of everyone else at 15 — smashing everyone and asking me, ‘So, how am I doing coach?’ He would always call me coach. He had a nickname for everyone and it came out in the eulogies this week. That was Kevin.

I often wonder how he would have improved under Arsene Wenger if he had not moved to Nottingham Forest in 1995. His well-attended funeral was deeply moving. Kevin will be so deeply missed.