Sixth place, Europa League football and our highest ever points tally in a Premier League season; this truly was a campaign beyond all expectation.

The 3-0 win over Southampton capped off a truly exceptional season and dare I say is this the fabled ‘next level’ we were promised when we upped sticks from the Boleyn Ground to move to pastures new?

The last time West Ham qualified for Europe the powers-that-be signed a litany of also-rans, free transfers and disastrous loans - the likes of Havard Nordtveit, Simone Zaza and Gokhan Tore rocked up at London Stadium and whilst they ‘improved’ our overall depth, they didn’t improve the quality of the squad.

Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. This summer we must bring in quality over quantity if we are to successfully balance European football with the rigours of the domestic game.

The challenge of Europa League football must be embraced. Too often the narrative within this country is that it’s an inconvenience and the Thursday/Sunday grind is too much for squads that aren’t part of the so called ‘big six’.

Barking and Dagenham Post: West Ham United's Declan Rice (left), with Jesse Lingard, celebrates scoring their side's third goal of the game during the Premier League match at the London Stadium, London. Picture date: Sunday May 23, 2021.West Ham United's Declan Rice (left), with Jesse Lingard, celebrates scoring their side's third goal of the game during the Premier League match at the London Stadium, London. Picture date: Sunday May 23, 2021. (Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

In the not-too-distant past Middlesbrough and Fulham have reached the final of this competition and not long ago Wolves reached the quarter-finals. It’s not inconceivable that we can have a similar sort of run providing we invest in the squad correctly and treat the competition with the respect it deserves.

We missed out on a Champions League place by a mere two points, and whilst it’s easy to go back and think about where we could’ve found an extra win, let’s just marvel in just how impressive our rise from 16th to sixth has truly been.

The football we played at times was breathtaking, the grit we showed to win games that perhaps we didn’t deserve to was inspirational and in many ways symptomatic of the winning mentality that David Moyes has fostered into this West Ham team.

For the first time since that final season at Upton Park it feels like this club is going in the right direction, the next challenge is to sustain this and much like Leicester City become lasting disruptors of the so called ‘big six’.