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Manuel Pellegrini says that West Ham supporters can expect latest signing Samir Nasri to be a "top player" for the club.

The manager previously worked with Nasri when the two were at Manchester City as part of the Premier League-winning squad of 2013/14.

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And Pellegrini insisted that he had no qualms about signing the 31-year-old midfielder, who he maintained would be a cut above the rest when fully match fit once again.

"I think the fans can expect a lot from Nasri because he is a top player," the boss told whufc.com. "When he is used to playing 90 minutes again he will be a top player at this club.

"It is important to give him the opportunity to work with us and I hope we will rediscover the same Samir Nasri that we saw three or four years ago with me at Manchester City.

"This was not a 'high risk' decision, because he's signed for six months. There are a lot of players you can buy and the risk is high, but he wanted to demonstrate he was back in football."

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Nasri, who made his full debut last weekend against Birmingham in the FA Cup faces another of his former clubs tomorrow when West Ham entertain Arsenal in the day's big London derby.

And he says that he is looking forward to proving Pellegrini right by being a success in east London between now and the end of the 2018/19 campaign, having completed a lengthy ban that ruled him out of football until the beginning of 2019.

"The competition, the dressing room and to be back on the pitch, that's what I was waiting for, for a whole year," he said.

"I had some really tough moments when I was really down. I'm a guy who, mentally, I'm really strong, but for maybe the first time in my life I cried about my career because I thought it was over.

"But now, coming back to the most competitive league in the world, with a team full of ambition with a manager that I know, and with a stadium like this? We are blessed and I'm looking forward to the next game against Arsenal."

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