West Ham's dreamy £263m best starting XI for Aston Villa opener after Summerville and Fullkrug transfers

West Ham United are now less than two weeks away from the start of the new Premier League season, facing Aston Villa in their first clash of the new campaign. The Hammers face Celta Vigo in their final pre-season friendly this weekend, and all attention will then turn to the opener against Villa.

Julen Lopetegui has welcomed a number of eye-catching signings ahead of his first season in charge, with the Hammers significantly raising the value of their squad. Here we look at West Ham’s best starting XI based on the new signings. Take a look below.

GK - Alphonse Areola - £8.5m

Areola will be the Hammers number one for this season, with the reliable Lukasz Fabianski as the main back-up. Wes Foderingham has ben signed as the new number three.

RB - Vladimír Coufal - £6.8m

Coufal remains the best option at right-back, but it’s true West Ham could do with another option on the right side of defence.

CB - Konstantinos Mavropanos - £17.1m

Mavropanos featured regularly in the second half of the season, although an injury kept him out for a stretch of games. The centre-back will be confident of nailing down a starting spot, especially if Kurt Zouma moves on as reported.

CB - Max Kilman - £27.4m

West Ham’s new star defender arrived on a big-money deal from Wolves and will be assured of a starting spot as long as he is fit. Hammers fans will be excited about the Kilman signing.

LB - Emerson Palmieri - £10.3m

Emerson did a fine job last season and will continue to lead the way on the left. Aaron Cresswell will provide back-up while also being an option on the left side of a back three.

CM - Tomas Soucek - £25.7m

The battle for starting spots in the middle could be interesting. Soucek has proved his worth offensively and defensively, and he will surely grab a starting spot heading into the new season.

CM - James Ward-Prowse - £25.7m

Ward-Prowse will be hoping to land the other starting spot, He showed his quality last season, and he also has the added set-piece ability. Although, it’s no secret that the addition of Guido Rodriguez means there is more competition in these two centre-midfield spots.

LW - Mohammed Kudus - £42.9m

Kudus was a sensation for the Hammers last season and he has been linked with a move away, but West Ham should confident in keeping their star attacker.

RW - Jarrod Bowen - £42.9m

Another star man in this Hammers side, Bowen will be assured of a starting spot as long as he can stay fit. Bowen is a real goal threat, and his pace and ability makes him hard to drop.

CAM - Lucas Paquetá - £42.9m

While Paquetá will be a guaranteed starter if fit and available, his future at the club is not clear. There have been rumours aplenty of Paquetá moving on, and he has regularly been linked with Manchester City. If Paquetá moves on, West Ham could shift Kudus to the attacking midfield role and put new signing Crysencio Summerville out wide. Summerville will be pushing for one of the wing spots in any case.

CF - Niclas Füllkrug - £12.8m

Michail Antonio’s reign at the top end of the pitch may have come to an end. Although, given the proximity of new signing Niclas Fullkrug’s arrival to the start of the season, we may see Antonio start early in the season. But Fullkrug is expected to win the starting spot, with Danny Ings also providing cover.

*All values from Transfermarkt.