Pablo Fornals (Getty Images)
According to The Express, Napoli are interested in signing West Ham star Pablo Fornals ahead of the new campaign.
The report suggests that the Hammers boss David Moyes is looking to sell players to ready funds before bringing in reinforcements. And Fornals could be on the move, with the Serie A side plotting a bid for the Spaniard.
Born in Spain, Fornals spent time at the academies of Villareal and CD Castellon before joining Malaga’s youth system. He made his senior bow with Malaga in the 2015/16 campaign and went on to make 63 appearances for the club, scoring 7 goals and providing 3 assists.
He was later signed by Villareal in the summer of 2017 and he immediately established himself as a key member of the squad. In his first season with the yellow Submarines, he racked up 3 goals and 12 assists in 35 La Liga games, which earned him a move to West Ham last summer.
However, he hasn’t been at his best and has taken his time to settle to the conditions of the Premier League.
At the moment, only two attacking midfielders are available at David Moyes’ disposal. After two successful seasons with Villareal, Fornals was expected to dictate West Ham’s play but the Spaniard struggled and failed to live up to the expectations.
However, he managed to score 3 goals and 5 assists in 39 games across all competitions. Argentine playmaker Manuel Lanzini is the other attacking midfielder in the squad. He struggled throughout last campaign and hasn’t been the same since his return from injury.
Apart from them, the Hammers don’t have any other creative player. Thus, keeping hold of Fornals would be a wise decision by the club. Though he struggled last season, the Spanish international started to get back to his best since the restart. And this shows he just needed time to adapt to a different league.
With experience, the 24-year-old should only get better and could go on to lead West Ham’s creative department in the future. He has the ability to succeed and the manager should give him another chance to prove his worth.
With Lanzini completely out of form and limited options available for West Ham in the creative role, selling Fornals wouldn’t be ideal. The former Villareal man could provide them with some much-needed depth and quality in the squad. Thus, they should keep hold of the Spaniard at least until his contract comes to an end with the East London outfit.
