West Ham manager Slaven Bilic believes players as good as Dimitri Payet do not need time to adapt to the Barclays Premier League.
Payet moved to Upton Park from Marseille in June and has been one of the stars of the season so far, scoring three goals in his first five games.
At just over £10million, the Frenchman looks to be one of the bargains of the summer already, but Bilic is not surprised how quickly the 28-year-old has settled.
"Some players need some time and also with Dimitri, he will go down and up," Bilic said.
"But in England, you talk too much about separating Premier League from other leagues.
"There is not so much talk about players moving from France to Germany, France to Italy, Italy to France, Spain.
"They don't talk much about is he going to make it? How much time does he need to adapt to the Premiership?
"If a player is a good player - of course it's a new environment, new country, blah, blah, blah - but Dimitri, he is 28, he is a really class player.
"It's not his first move, he played for Lille, Saint-Etienne, Marseille - Marseille is an extremely big club, with big pressure, big responsibility.
"He was a key player there and to be fair, still he is not settled completely, but he is such a class player and a good man, good professional, it doesn't surprise me."
West Ham travel to Manchester City on Saturday, hoping to extend an encouraging start to the season which sees them sitting fifth in the table.
Away wins at Liverpool and Arsenal can give the Hammers belief at the Etihad Stadium, but City will offer a stern test, having won all five of their games so far without conceding a goal.
"We're going to have be as solid or even more as concentrated together as we were against Liverpool and Arsenal," Bilic said.
"You have to give them something, you cannot stop all of them. It's not only up to us. They are Man City.
"It's going to be more up to them how the game is going to be played because they have that quality.
"But we are confident. Some people say it's a bonus game for West Ham, it's not a bonus game.
"I would be very disappointed if we don't play good or don't get anything from that game."
Source: PA
