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Our forays into the transfer market have proven to be a 'lucky dip' in recent seasons, whilst the majority of clubs have instead opted against paying a premium for domestic-based talent in the hopes of unearthing a foreign gem.

This gamble has paid off for various clubs, such as Swansea - who bagged Spanish striker Michu for as little as £2million - and Aston Villa, who paid around £7million for their Premier League lifesaver Christian Benteke.

In Aston Villa’s case this was an exceptional bit of business compared to when they paid almost treble that price for England international Darren Bent, who has now been frozen out at Villa Park and replaced by the up-and-coming Belgian.

West Ham United, on the other hand, have rarely been applauded for their foreign flings in the transfer market. This remains the case with the only stand-out signing from abroad in recent years being New Zealand international Winston Reid. Carlos Tevez, signed for a single season in 2006/07 should also be noted, but a player of his pedigree was always going to shine through.

The latest striker to be brought in from abroad was Malian international Modibo Maiga who was signed from FC Sochaux. Maiga failed to impress last season, with his meagre return on West Ham's £5million investment being four goals from 19 appearances (though it can be noted 15 of these came from the bench.)

It should always be noted that foreign signings rarely hit the ground running (especially in our case!), with Winston being a prime example of this. With the summer break working wonders for him, so judgement is reserved on Modibo who can hopefully find his shooting boots after some time off.

West Ham United’s website currently has no information on their scouting department, which is a bit worrying to say the least. My impression is that if it wasn’t for his World Cup outings, what were the odds of us signing Winston Reid on the back of his performances for Danish side FC Midtylland? Slim to none I reckon. (If anyone can shed anymore light on our scouting squad please let me know, because as far as I know I don’t completely trust Football Manager for our staff listing)

I fear as though we may have become too old-fashioned in our approach for signings; it’s a safe bet to pluck for domestic-based talent. But this usually comes with the sticking point of bloated wages and transfer fees, Premier League clubs don’t usually want to sell to a rival team and that usually drives up the price (to the sound of £50million for Fernando Torres).

As much as I love Big Sam at the helm, we need to adopt a new transfer policy. With the impending Financial Fair Play rules set to impact the Premier League this season, we may be hard-pressed to continue to be committed to signing British-based talents.

Though this formula has worked wonders for us, solidifying our Premier League status was always a major factor and his signing of experienced players was the catalyst for this. But with the inclusion of the less-than-impressive debut campaigns for Maiga, Diarra and, to a lesser extent, the loan signings of Emmanuel Pogatetz and Wellington Paulista, this may have put Sam and, more so, the Davids off putting their hands in their pockets for overseas talent.

Although, with recent transfer news, I could be soon eating my own words ie. the recent signings of Romanian captain Razvan Rat and goalkeeper Adrian (I look forward to hearing ‘Get your Rat out for the lads’ chants around the Boleyn). On top of this suspected bids for Spanish International Alvaro Negredo, have left me hoping we will embark upon bringing a more cultured way of football to the East End.

I’m certain we will give 100 per cent effort in trying to sign Andy Carroll - and don’t get me wrong, it would be a fantastic signing but also one that would majorly impact upon our transfer kitty. So here’s hoping we can recruit a Michu of our own and not a Savio, so to speak.

And with some Premier League teams again hiring a Director of Football to assist in transfer dealings, would it be crazy for us to adopt that sort of approach? I can’t help but feel that if Sam gets to choose his man to help secure transfers, it could alleviate some pressure and allow him to get on with what he does best, which is managing a football club.

Of course, this all depends upon Allardyce getting the final say before the player puts pen to paper. I remember all too well when we last had a Director of Football (Gianluca Nani, now at Watford, hired under the Icelandic regime to assist our then manager Gianfranco Zola). That relationship with the Boleyn faithful soon soured.

But needless to say, we cannot refrain from embracing the future just because it hasn't worked out in the past. This figurehead signing has benefitted various European clubs and is slowly becoming commonplace in the Premier League. It might just be a sign of the times.

Finally, please take a moment to remember the Boleyn Ground’s much-loved, former favourite Benni McCarthy whose ankles, it transpires, could no longer support his huge frame - a situation that subsequently led to the South African announcing his retirement.

We’ll never forget your efforts in claret and blue Benni, which were spent not fighting for our survival - but fighting to avoid shopping at Jackamo...


*Jason Eves may also be found on Twitter at twitter.com/jason_eves.

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