Eggert targets top four - and life away from Upton Park

Magnusson arrived at Upton Park last November full of grand ambitions only to be overwhelmed by more pressing problems - notably a dressing- room revolt, a Premier League investigation and fellow chairmen trying to boot his team out of the competition.

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Grand plan: The proposed 2012 Olympic Stadium

His bid to move the club into the Olympic Stadium was snubbed, despite his £100million offer, and the team only escaped relegation on the last day of the season, thanks to a Tevez winner at Old Trafford.

It was a baptism of fire and it has left scars, with former chairman Terry Brown no longer welcome at the club.

But, after settling the Tevez affair and weeding out some problem players, Magnusson feels he is making progress. He has earmarked a site for a new 60,000- capacity stadium, near the original Thames Ironworks site where the club was founded and he is happy with manager Alan Curbishley and the shape his new team is taking.

"There is no question about Alan Curbishley in my mind," explained Magnusson, who said finishing in the top 10 was the target for the new season followed by a Champions League place the season after.

"He was not given the credit he deserved for keeping us up. He has to show now he has what it takes to go to the next step but I think he has the qualities to do that."

This is a warning that Curbishley must attract players who will turn West Ham into Champions League material and manage their egos.

Magnusson said: "It is possible to break into the top four. We have ambitions. It will not happen overnight but people should be pleased if it's not always the same four teams.

"The teams up there receive a lot of money from the Champions League and you have to spend a lot to get on the same level."

In Magnusson's mind, the key to West Ham's chances of cracking the top four lie in moving to a new stadium.

He said: "In 10 years it will be difficult to be in the Premier League if you don't fill a stadium of 50,000 every week."

West Ham are believed to have offered the Olympic authorities £100m to reduce the 80,000- seat Olympic stadium in Stratford to 60,000 after the 2012 Games. It was rejected and Magnusson is focusing on a 31-acre site in West Ham.

Friends reunited: Magnusson and Tevez

"We are looking at 2011 to move to a new ground," he said. "It will be interesting for Londoners to see our ground being built, looking across at the Olympic Stadium and wondering 'What is happening here?'."

A new training ground is on the agenda and, of course, more new players.

West Ham have agreed a fee of £6.8m with Barcelona for Eidur Gudjohnsen but the player has yet to agree. Moves for Nicky Shorey and Giles Barnes have also stalled because Reading and Derby are reluctant to sell and hopes of bringing Kieron Dyer to Upton Park are "dead at the moment".

Despite the ambitious transfer policy, Magnusson is keen to stress that the club's net transfer spending this summer is only £1m. This covers four players in: Craig Bellamy, Scott Parker, Julien Faubert and Freddie Ljungberg and five out: Nigel Reo-Coker, Marlon Harewood, Paul Konchesky, Tyrone Mears and Yossi Benayoun.

Without naming names, Magnusson explained: "It's no secret there was a lot going on in the dressing room we wanted to get rid of. There was unrest and things that shouldn't be happening in a dressing room damaging the spirit. The group now is very happy."

Magnusson is also happier now the Tevez transfer is settled. It was concluded when Kia Joorabchian, the man who owns Tevez's economic rights, agreed to pay West Ham £2m to release the player's registration so he could move to Manchester United.

The Hammers, after paying £1.5m in legal fees, yesterday pledged to donate the remaining £500,000 to the Football Foundation to be spent on pitches in Newham. The act of goodwill is a step towards rebuilding the club's battered image.

Magnusson said: "What a few individuals did last August has damaged the reputation of West Ham."

He hopes this season will complete the rehabilitation.