Exciting Nigerian winger Victor Obinna will be best remembered for his superb spell at Upton Park during the 2010/2011 season, as he was the shining light in an otherwise dark Premier League campaign.
But, how did his flair and goals almost keep us afloat in the Top-Flight alone? Just how did the rest of his journeyman like career pan out? nd where is he Now?
The electric attacker started his footballing life with Plateau United in the Nigerian Premier League, before moving onto Kwara United.
A young Obinna would be on the verge of a move to Internacional in Brazil that fell through at the last minute, leaving him to re-join CAF Champions League outfit Enyimba in his teens.
However, the 30-year-old’s big break finally came with a move to Serie A’s Chievo in a deal that would see him join Inter Milan at the end of his spell.
After a spell with the club that included a fair quota of goals, a relegation, and even a car accident, the former Juventus trialist made the move to Inter for around £1 million.
Having earned high praise from Jose Mourinho upon his arrival in summer 2008, the starlet was loaned out to Malaga in La Liga, where his eventful career would continue.
By this time, Obinna was already an integral part of the Nigerian National Team and competed in both the 2006 African Cup of Nations and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
However, back on the domestic front, the midfielder enjoyed a crazy debut in Spanish Football as he scored and was sent off against Xerez in October 2009 his La Liga bow.
Overall, the spell was not deemed to be a successful one and Mourinho decided that the player needed experience of the Premier League, with Avram Grant delighted to take him on a season-long loan as one of his first actions as Hammers Boss.
The Nigerian would bring a much-needed spark to Upton Park, impressing on his debut against Chelsea. Just days later, he netted his first Hammers goal in a 1-2 Carling Cup victory at The Stadium of Light.
Yet another cup goal would follow in extra time against Stoke City a month later, as he bagged his first league goal in November 2010 during the 3-1 victory over Wigan Athletic, dubbed “Save Our Season Day”.
However, it would be yet another League Cup game that provided one of the low points of his West Ham United career, as he was sent off in the semi-final first leg against Birmingham City for a kick out at Sebastian Larsson.
Despite this, Obinna would more than redeem himself after enjoying one of the most incredible three-day periods in English Football history a few weeks later.
Having scored an FA Cup hat-trick against Nottingham Forest at The Boleyn, which included an outrageous screamer from a crossing position. The attacker added another two goals in a 1-3 victory at Bloomfield Road just three days later, to make it an incredible five goals in three days.
Unfortunately, those goals would be his last in Claret & Blue as not even his valiant efforts were enough to save us from a tragic relegation, he played out his final Hammers game in May 2011.
The proposed permeant deal from Inter never materialized and Obinna signed for Lokomotiv Moscow on a free just a month after leaving England.
Spells back at Chievo, MSV Duisburg and SV Darmstadt followed the end of his international career, with rumours of a return to West Ham always prominent.
Up until recently, at the veteran age of 30, the 2010 World Cup star plied his trade in the Romanian top-flight with Dinamo Bucharest, but has recently been released by the club and is still a free agent on the hunt for his next venture.
Victor Obinna will always be remembered as one of a divine class of Hammers cult players for his passion and attacking genius.
But in fact, his tale is yet another case of what could have been, perhaps different circumstances? A different season? A different manager? And it is hard to deny that the paceman could have gone onto becoming a modern West Ham United legend.