Magnusson has overseen the arrivals of the likes of Matthew Upson, Kieron Dyer and Craig Bellamy since joining the Hammers and said: "You buy players who may have had a lot of success in the Dutch league or French league for example but doesn't mean they are going to be successful in the Premier League. There is a bit of a gamble to take.

"You have a pay a little bit more for players who have a proven track record in the Premiership and that's fully understandable - and that goes whether you are talking about foreign players who have proved themselves in the Premier League or English players."

Magnusson does think it is important for clubs to have a strong base of domestic talent however.

He added: "Sir Trevor can have no problem with West Ham because we want to have a strong England team and we believe it is important to support that and have English players at the club."