West Ham United have signed plenty of players over the years that even the most committed London Stadium matchgoer would struggle to pull out of a line-up.

Are you really telling us that you would recognise Sead Haksabanovic if you sat next to him at a bus stop? Could you hold the door open for Antonio Nocerino and say, genuinely, that you remember him playing ten Premier League games for West Ham United back in 2014?

His prior stint at Upton Park was brief and – in stark contrast to many of the centre-forwards who came before or since – sometimes rather brilliant.

Demba Ba was initially a bit of an unknown at West Ham United

Demba Ba scored seven goals in 10 Premier League starts after joining on loan from Hoffenheim in the second half of the 2010/11 season. And while West Ham would finish rock bottom under Avram Grant, no one could say that this inspired winter signing did not do his very best to make survival a possibility.

Yet, former Hammers teammate Rob Green remembers Ba turning up for training to the bemusement of one unnamed Upton Park chief.

“I’ve had owners come up to me and say, ‘Who’s that player, Rob?’,” Green says on The Athletic podcast. “He turned up to me and said, ‘Who’s that?’. And I said, ‘That’s your main centre-forward’! Demba Ba, came into the building, the owner turned to me and said, Who’s that?'”

That was not a question anyone at West Ham would be asking for much longer. Ba was an unknown when he arrived on English soil from Bundesliga outfit Hoffenheim, but the Senegal international quickly became a household name.

Ba scored 43 goals in just shy of a century of Premier League games, his prolific stint at a doomed West Ham earning him a move to Newcastle and then a couple of seasons with Chelsea. Now 41, he is currently the sporting director of a Le Havre side rock bottom in France’s top flight.

Back to East London, Nuno once again has a dilemma on his mind as the Hammers prepare to host Southampton tomorrow at 3pm. Pablo made a big impact up top against Swansea City last time out and arguably deserves to keep his place.

However, Taty Castellanos is desperate to get back on the goal trail, while Joel Piroe will feel he has a point to prove after a frustrating evening at Lincoln.