Downes hungry for Martin reunion

The Essex-born midfielder, who previously played under Martin at Swansea in the 2021/22 Sky Bet Championship campaign, is excited for the opportunity to play regular football at St Mary’s in a style of football he already knows and loves.

Downes, a Saint for the season, had hoped to sign in time to face Plymouth on Saturday, but instead has been stuck at home suffering with the effects of eating raw meat.

“It’s been a tough week, struggling with illness a little bit, but it feels good to finally be here, to get it over the line, and I’m just excited to get going,” he said.

“I was hoping to be involved on the weekend. Long story short, I had a bit of dodgy food off my own back – I’m not going to blame the missus. I got food poisoning, felt like I was on my deathbed, lost a lot of weight, so it’s not ideal, but it is what it is. I’m over it now, we live and we learn, I won’t be eating raw chicken liver ever again!”

Now returning to fitness, Downes is itching to adopt the same style of play that saw him play the best football of his career so far under Martin at Swansea, earning a move to boyhood club West Ham last summer, where he was part of the triumphant UEFA Conference League squad.

But the 24-year-old has not played as much as he would like in East London, starting just seven Premier League games despite making a total of 35 appearances in all competitions for the Hammers last term.

“That was the best year I’ve had in my career,” Downes said of his Swansea spell. “The way we played suited me down to a tee and I just found I slotted right in. I loved coming in every day – I think that’s a big thing.

“It’s a good watch, I’m sure all the fans are happy with it. It’s a great style of play – what team doesn’t want to dominate the ball like Man City? I think every team wants to be like that.

“I feel like I’m an all-round type of player. I suppose I like to do a bit of everything – I like to defend, pass the ball, win the ball back, dribble with it, so a bit of everything really.

“I spoke many times with the West Ham gaffer and I came to the conclusion I wanted to play week in, week out. Obviously I know West Ham have signed a lot of midfielders, so I knew that would be tough, but I think a lot of things just appealed to me here.

“The ambition for the club is obviously to get promoted, to get back in the Premier League, and that enticed me a lot. You look at the squad we’ve got here, I think we’ve got a very, very good chance of that, so it’s looking good.”