Leon Britton is relishing the chance to face his former employers when West Ham visit the Liberty tomorrow (12.45pm).
The Swans midfielder spent four years at Upton Park as a youngster before arriving in south west Wales – initially on loan – in 2002.
And the 29-year-old can’t wait to face the Hammers for the first time since he left the club.
“It was the game I picked out when the fixtures came out,” said Brits. “I’m delighted that they have come back up, and for us to face them in our first home game of the season.
“I have great memories of being at West Ham. I didn’t get to play for the first team, but it was a brilliant club to be at.”
The Hammers paid Arsenal £400,000 for Britton in 1998, making him the most expensive 16-year-old in Britain at the time.
But despite joining a long list of English talent at Upton Park, it took Leon until last season to finally achieve his dream of playing in the Premier League.
“I’m probably the missing link in the group we had,” he joked. “There were the likes of Jermain Defoe, Michael Carrick, Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole in the squad and they’ve managed to have great careers.
“I went down to League Two and drifted out of people’s minds. Nobody showed any interest in me apart from Swansea.
“But the journey back has been fantastic – a lot of hard work from everyone within this club has got us to the Premier League.
“I’m realistic – I wasn’t good enough to break through at West Ham back then, but I’m a different player now at 29 years old.”
The Swans kicked-off their second season in the top-flight in style last weekend with a thumping 5-0 win against QPR.
And Brits has called on his teammates to push on from that result at Loftus Road when they return to home soil to take on the Hammers in front of a sold-out Liberty crowd.
“There has been a brilliant atmosphere around training and the club because of the result last week,” he said.
“It was a perfect start for us, but everyone is concentrating on West Ham now. We are in for a tough afternoon – they have quality players who have the ability to hurt us.
“But we are determined to follow up our victory at QPR and ensure that we get off to a winning start at the Liberty.”
Watch the full interview with Leon now on Swans Player
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