The impending announcement of the arrival of international defender Nayef Aguerd will take the total number of Moroccan players to have represented West Ham to three.
Following in the footsteps of Manuel Da Costa (2009 to 2011) and Marouane Chamakh, who spent the latter half of the 202/13 season on loan from Arsenal, Aguerd will boost the number of players from the North African nation to have featured in a claret and blue shirt.But his arrival still won't be enough to catapult Morocco into the top ten nations by number of players - outside of the UK and Ireland - to have represented West Ham United FC over the years.
Indeed, some of the countries on that particular list will probably come as something of a surprise! So perhaps before scrolling down the page to see the full list - which only includes players to have featured for the club's first team - why not have a think and try to guess which nations are represented below?
In reverse order: the international top ten
10. USA/Jamaica: 5 players
Embed from Getty Images
The oldest player on our list: Ade Coker, now 68
The oldest player on our list: Ade Coker, now 68
Five Americans - Ade Coker (11 appearances), goalkeeper Ian Feuer (3), defender Jonathan Spector (115), loanee John Harkes (13) and, most recently Sebatian Lletget (1, in January 2014) have pulled on a claret and blue short in a competitive fixture.
That figure was matched by Jamaica when Michail Antonio switched his international allegiance to the Caribbean island, with the current West Ham forward (228 appearances) joined by Jobi McAnuff (14), Tyrone Mears (6), Blair Turgott (1) and Ravel Morrison (24), another who was previously eligible for and represented England (at youth level).
9. Croatia: 6 players
Embed from Getty Images
The only former West Ham manager on our list - Slaven Bilic
The only former West Ham manager on our list - Slaven Bilic
Six players from the Baltic state have now represented West Ham - Davor Suker (13 appearances), Igor Stimac (52), Mladen Petric (4), Nikica Jelavic (15), current first team squad member Niko Vlasic (31) and Slaven Bilic (54), who also managed the club between 2015 and 2017.
7. Italy/Senegal: 7 players
Embed from Getty Images
Di Canio with Marc Keller, who appears further down on thie list
Di Canio with Marc Keller, who appears further down on thie list
One up from Croatia comes Italy, with seven players form the country having donned a claret and blue shirt. Paolo Di Canio (140 appearances) was the first and most celebrated; he has been followed by Davide Di Michele (34), Allesandro Diamanti (30), Antonia Nocerino (10), Marco Boriello (2), Simone Zaza (11) and current squad member Angelo Ogbonna (202).
The only African nation in our list, Senegal has also contributed seven Hammers in the Premier League era beginning with Henri Camara (10 appearances) plus Demba Ba (13), Papa Bouba Diop (16), Abdoulaye Faye (29), Mo Diame (79), Cheikhou Kouyate (32) and arguable the most successful, striker Diafra Sakho (71).
6. Argentina: 8 players
Embed from Getty Images
Eternally remembered as the player who gave the ball to Gerrard...
Eternally remembered as the player who gave the ball to Gerrard...
Eight players of varying standards and success have featured for West Ham, more than any other South American state. They are Maurico Taricco (whose sole appearance lasted for just 27 minutes!), 2006 FA Cup finalist Lionel Scaloni (17), Javier Mascherano (7), Carlos Tevez (29), Mauro Zarate (29), Jonathan Calleri (19), Pablo Zabaleta (80) and Manuel Lanzini (203).
3. Czech Republic/Spain/Australia: 9 players
Embed from Getty Images
The unstoppable Stanley
The unstoppable Stanley
It's a three-way tie for third in our list; the first to reach that number was Australia with Robbie Slater (29 appearances), Stan Lazaridis (87), Steve Mautone (3), Chris Coyne (1), Hayden Foxe (12), Trent McLenahan (3), Richard Garcia (22), Lucas Neill (89) and the much-missed Dylan Tombides (1).
Next up was Spain, whose number includes Kepa Blanco (8 appearances), Diego Tristan (17), Manuel Almunia (4), fellow goalkeeper Adrian (150), Alvaro Arbeloa (4), Toni Martinez (3), Lucas Perez (19), the hapless Roberto (10) and Pablo Fornals (130).
And the most recent member of the '9 club' is the Czech Republic/the former Czachoslovakia, featuring Ludo Miklosko (373), Pavel Srnicek (3), Jan Lastuvka (1), Tomas Repka (188), Radoslav Kovac (62), Marek Stech (3), Alex Kral (6), Vladimir Coufal (70) and last year's KUMB Player of the Year, Tomas Soucek (105).
2. Portugal: 10 players
Embed from Getty Images
Paolo Futre paved the way, but didn't last long at West Ham
Paolo Futre paved the way, but didn't last long at West Ham
One of only two countries to have supplied players in double figures to West Ham although few - if any - have proved to be successful over time at the Boleyn Ground/London Olympic Stadium. They are Paulo Futre (9), Hugo Porfirio (27), Dani (9), Paulo Alves (4), Luis Boa Morte (109), Ricardo Vaz Te (61), Domingos Quina (6), Jose Fonte (24), Joao Mario (14), and Xande Silva (2).
1. France: 20 players
Embed from Getty Images
Brief encounter: it was nice while it lasted
Brief encounter: it was nice while it lasted
By far and away the most popular source of foreign imports are our closest neighbours outside of the United Kingdom. No fewer than 20 Gallic stars have featured for West Ham since the late 1990s - they are David Terrier (1 appearance), Bernard Lama (14), Marc Keller (57), 2002's KUMB Player of the Year Sebastien Schemmel (73), Laurent Courtois (8), Edouard Cisse (28), Youssef Sofiane (2), Seb Carole (1), Jeremie Aliadiere (8), David Bellion (10), Julien Faubert (121), Freddie Piquionne (62), Alou Diarra (14), Morgan Amalfitano (32), 2016's KUMB Player of the Year Dimitri Payet (60), Patrice Evra (5), Samir Nasri (6), Issa Diop (121), Kurt Zouma (32) and finally, Alphonse Areola (18).
* Something to say about this story? Please visit the KUMB Forum to leave a comment.
