When it comes to spending money, West Ham United have previously been guilty of either wasting it or not spending enough of it, leading to avoidable relegation battles. It looked like the same thing would happen again this summer when the sale of Declan Rice was followed by weeks of radio silence.
Luckily for the Hammers faithful, the club finally got to work in the second half of the window and oversaw a number of quality incomings that, whilst not to the level of Rice individually, might well improve the side as a collective going forward.
The four new first-teamers, Mohammed Kudus, James Ward-Prowse, Konstantinos Mavropanos, and Edson Alvarez, are all fantastic players in their own right, and after a great start to the season under David Moyes, they might just be able to spring some surprises on the competition as the weeks roll on.
And so, with the window firmly shut and the club's money spent, we've taken a look at West Ham's most expensive signings of all time to see which ones were a hit and which ones weren't.
20) Javier Hernandez - £16 million
Hernandez became a hero during his time at Manchester United, regularly coming off the bench to spare the blushes of Sir Alex Ferguson's side.
Chicharito is still playing at 35 for LA Galaxy in the USA, and he actually had a very good return at the Hammers.
In 63 games, he scored 17 goals and proved decent value for money given the club's £16m outlay.
In terms of striker signings, Hernandez is one of the Hammers' better acquisitions in recent years.
19) Andriy Yarmolenko - £17.5 million
Andriy Yarmolenko was an excellent signing for the Hammers - especially given his £17.5m price tag.
He was continually useful, never really made a fuss when he was on the bench, and he popped up with some vitally essential goals here and there.
A tricky winger, he was involved in 20 goals in 86 games, but none were more emotional than his strike after returning from a break following Russia's invasion of his home country of Ukraine.
He departed a beloved servant last summer to join UAE side Al Ain for a season before returning to his home country to sign for Dynamo Kyiv on a two-year deal.
18) Maxwel Cornet - £17.5 million
The jury is still out for Cornet.
Signed from Burnley for £17.5m last summer as part of a lavish spend, Cornet only made two starts across the entire season last year in part due to an injury.
A winger who can also feature as a wing-back, he simply hasn't had enough time to stamp his authority on the team.
He'll be hoping that he gets the opportunity to do so this year.
17) Konstantinos Mavropanos - £19 million
At just £19m, former Arsenal defender Konstantinos Mavropanos could end up being a bargain for West Ham if he can replicate his performances from his time in Germany.
The Greek international made 28 Bundesliga appearances for Stuttgart last year, in which he averaged a passing accuracy of 83.5%, won 2.9 aerial duals per game, won two man of the match awards, and averaged a match rating of 7.00, per WhoScored.
With the Hammers conceding 55 goals last campaign, Mavropanos could be the perfect signing.
16) Marko Arnautovic - £20 million
Arnautovic is a real head-scratcher.
An undoubtedly talented player, the Austria international both sparkled and fizzled at the London Stadium.
In 65 games, he was involved in 34 goals, which is an excellent return given his £20m price tag, but he also caused untold headaches by trying to force a move to the Chinese Super League.
Arnautovic is still playing in Serie A, spending this season on loan at Inter Milan from Bologna, and will likely always remain a player that divides opinion in East London.
15) Said Benrahma - £20 million (plus add-ons)
Benrahma had a brilliant season for West Ham last season and looks to have finally firmly established himself in the side.
He scored 12 goals and provided five assists across all competitions last year, making a real impact in the Conference League.
A dazzling dribbler with a range of passing, Benrahma is finally delivering on his promise and has emerged as a critical player.
It's about time, but the £20m investment is starting to pay off for Moyes and Co.
14) Andre Ayew - £20.5 million
Ayew was undoubtedly a bust, and at £20.5m, a pretty expensive one.
Signed at a real premium, the Ghana international struggled during his time in east London.
He scored 12 goals in 50 games, which isn't a good enough return based on the transfer fee the Irons splurged on him.
He spent last season in the Premier League with Nottingham Forest but is not a free agent following the expiration of his one-year deal at the club.
13) Jarrod Bowen - £22 million
An undisputed hit, Bowen has been a stunning signing.
Brought in from Hull City for £22m, the winger has made 162 appearances for the club and scored 43 goals while registering 32 assists.
He's been so good he's even earned a call-up to Gareth Southgate's England squad and was unlucky not to go to the 2022 World Cup.
He is a brilliant player who will go down in club history for his winning goal against Fiorentina in the Conference League final in June.
12) Issa Diop - £22 million
For £22m, it's fair to say that Diop was a decent signing.
Snapped up as a talented youngster from Toulouse in Ligue 1, the defender made 121 appearances for the club, playing a role in their recent Premier League success and in their run to the Europa League semi-finals.
He was sold to Fulham in the summer as Moyes looked to reinvigorate his backline, but it's hard to argue that he wasn't a great servant.
Diop goes down as a hit here.
11) Pablo Fornals - £24 million
Fornals is still going strong at West Ham.
That's really impressive given that he was signed from Spanish club Villarreal in the 2019/20 season.
In total, the Spaniard has made 184 appearances for the club and is often a game-changer who can turn games on their head.
An exceptional signing who has got to be considered a success given his relatively modest transfer fee of £24m in the modern game.
10) Nikola Vlasic - £25.7 million
It's hard to put this one into words.
Vlasic has been one of the all-time worst West Ham signings, to the point that he was binned off last summer and loaned to Italian club Torino before the move was made permanent this summer for €12m (£10m).
In 31 appearances, he scored once.
It was an undeniable disaster of a signing and £25.7m wasted.
9) Kurt Zouma - £29.8 million
Zouma was the big centre-back signing Moyes needed, and at £29.8m, he didn't cost an arm and a leg.
Having been snapped up from Chelsea, the defender has gone on to play 68 times for the club.
It's telling that after his arrival, the Hammers reached the Europa League semi-finals and then won the Conference League a year later.
A good signing at the going rate for a top-class centre-back.
8) Nayef Aguerd - £30 million
Aguerd came in with a big reputation and a hefty £30m price tag but got injured almost immediately.
He was ruled out after hurting himself in a pre-season friendly against Rangers but has since gone on to return to fitness and make 21 Premier League appearances - scoring three goals along the way.
Aguerd looks to be an excellent signing at centre-back.
7) James Ward-Prowse - £30 million
As soon as Southampton were relegated from the Premier League at the end of last season, this always felt like a transfer destined to happen, and for £30m, it seems like a good move for all involved.
Ward-Prowse is a known quantity in the league and has proved season on season that he is a fantastic top-flight level player with an outrageously good record at set-pieces.
It's still very early days on this one, but Ward-Prowse to West Ham has all the makings of a successful transfer.
6) Edson Alvarez - £35.4 million
Similarly to Ward-Prowse, it's far too early to tell whether this £35.4m signing will be a success or not, but given Edson Alvarez's record in Amsterdam and at international level, you'd be foolish to bet against him.
It was something of a coup for the Hammers to land the midfielder, given the interest from both Borussia Dortmund and Chelsea last summer, a coup that comes with high expectations.
5) Gianluca Scamacca - £35.5 million
Gianluca Scamacca...oh dear...
Despite scoring eight goals in 27 games for the Hammers - three of which came in the Conference League - things just never worked out for the Italian in East London.
While injuries certainly didn't help, there was something that just never clicked with this move, and it's hard to call it anything other than a flop, especially at £35.5m.
4) Felipe Anderson - £36 million
This is a tricky one.
Anderson was undoubtedly a good player when he arrived at the club, but given that he came in as the club-record signing - a cool £36m - it's hard not to view his spell as a disappointment.
The Brazil international made 73 appearances and provided 25 goal contributions, which feels like an underwhelming set of numbers.
He was sold back to Lazio in 2021, where he remains today.
3) Mohammed Kudus - £38 million
Signing Mohammed Kudus for just £38m could well prove to be the best bit of business West Ham will do in a very long time.
The Ghanaian international was electric for Ajax in the Eredivisie last year, scoring 11 goals and assisting another three in just 19 starts. He has also looked just as good in the Champions League, scoring four and providing another two assists in just five starts.
If the dynamic midfielder come forward can replicate that kind of form under Moyes, the Hammers could be a very scary proposition for teams next year.
2) Sebastien Haller - £45 million
An undoubted flop, and an expensive one at £45m.
Since his West Ham spell, the forward hit the best form of his career at Ajax, earning a move to Borussia Dortmund. Sometimes, however, the shoe just doesn't fit, which was very much the case at the London Stadium.
He scored 14 goals in 54 games for the club and often looked utterly lost.
He'He'scently returned to playing for Dortmund after recovering from testicular cancer, which is superb news, but it remains true that his time at the Hammers was underwhelming.
1) Lucas Paqueta - £51 million
Coming in as the club's most expensive singing thanks to his £51m price tag, it's probably fair to say Lucas Paqueta had a slow start to life at the London Stadium.
The Brazilian came in as the next great hope for the Hammers and has gone on to play 45 times for the club, scoring six goals and providing the assist to eight more.
Overall, he has undoubtedly improved the East London outfit. So the Irons faithful were probably relieved to see his proposed move to Manchester City fall through towards the end of the window - even if the reason why is less than ideal.