Albian Ajeti gave up the chance to play in the Champions League to join West Ham and on Tuesday night he will make his debut in rather less glamorous surroundings at Newport.
The £8million striker has yet to play since his summer switch from Basel but he will be given his first start for the Hammers when they travel to Rodney Parade in the Carabao Cup.
Fresh from his two goals against Watford, West Ham’s £45m club-record signing Sebastien Haller will be rested as manager Manuel Pellegrini makes changes.
Javier Hernandez has a minor knee injury so Ajeti will be handed his chance.
The 22-year-old Switzerland international was signed to initially provide back-up to Haller and Hernandez, but he is a player Pellegrini and director of football Mario Husillos believe has the attributes to succeed.
In Pictures | Watford vs West Ham | 24/08/2019
Ajeti joined on deadline day after leaving Basel while the Swiss side were in the middle of Champions League qualifying.
Basel were one round away from the group stage but Ajeti said he “did not have to think twice”.
The forward has been an unused substitute in the last two Premier League matches.
West Ham are also expected to rest Declan Rice and Pellegrini is still taking a cautious approach with Winston Reid after 17 months out with a serious knee injury so the defender is unlikely to feature.
Newport County could provide tricky opponents. Leicester came unstuck there last season and Tottenham needed a late Harry Kane equaliser to rescue a 1-1 draw there in the FA Cup in 2017-18.
Much has been made of the state of the pitch, which is shared with rugby sides Newport Dragons and Newport RFC, but at this stage of the season the playing surface is in decent condition.
