Pablo Fornals signed for West Ham 14 months ago from Villareal and after a slow start to life in the Premier League, became more and more important to the team as the season progressed towards its end.
Then 23, the Spanish midfielder signed for a fee believed to be around £24million as Manuel Pellegrini made his first major signing of the summer off the back of the free transfers of goalkeepers Roberto and David Martin.
At the start of his Hammers career, Fornals was frustratingly played out of position by Pellegrini however and the Spaniard appeared as a right midfielder, a left midfielder, a central midfielder and as a number ten.
Fornals would seem to start every other game as he failed to find a run of consistency in the side. He eventually picked up his first assist in the Hammers 1-0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and then got off the mark with his first goal for the club in Pellegrini’s last game, a defeat to Leicester City, before the Chilean was given his marching orders in east London.
Fornals had been one of the better players in the team towards the end of Pellegrini’s regin but after David Moyes took over, found himself out of favour again as the Scot persisted with the out of form Manuel Lanzini.
Moyes eventually dropped the Argentine after a dire outing against Liverpool when he was jeered from the pitch. After coming off the bench in the reverse fixture and scoring, Fornals started all 11 remaining games of the season.
When Fornals joined the club last year, he wouldn’t have foreseen Moyes appointment of course after Pellegrini’s sacking but the Spaniard said something that certainly fits in with his current manager’s mantra.
“I want the Club to continue giving opportunities to young and ambitious people, people who want to do well for the long term,” Fornals said at his unveiling as a Hammers player in Madrid ahead of the European under-21 championships.
It was just a brief remark from the Spaniard but after being patient on the sidelines, he eventually got his chance with Moyes.
The manager brought in Jarrod Bowen from Hull City in January for afee reported to be £24million and has preached he wants to give younger players a chance to prove themselves at the highest level.
“I want to stop the idea that what we’re doing is just buying someone who will fill the gap,” Moyes said at the turn of the year.
“I want it to be the vision for the Club that we’re looking to bring in young, attractive, hungry players who are saying ‘we’re going to make West Ham better.’”
The manager has already been linked with the likes of Matty Cash, Antonee Robinson, Gonzalo Montiel who are all under the age of 23 to strengthen his defence. The manager is also keen to sign 22-year-old attacker Eberechi Eze from QPR this summer.
Fornals is expected to be a part of the squad next season despite Moyes looking to raise funds for him to purchase new recruits. Fornals’ name hasn’t been mentioned at all in terms of players that could leave as the club focus on selling the likes of Felipe Anderson and Manuel Lanzini instead.
We’re not saying that Fornals is some sort of predicting genius but he certainly saw the direction West Ham wanted to go in and with Moyes now at the helm, should be a part of that going forward.
