Spanish football expert Guillem Balague has heaped praise on West Ham United’s recent signing Pablo Fornals.
The 23-year-old was signed from La Liga heavyweights Villarreal last week, and Balague feels that the Hammers got an absolute steal with the Spanish international.
“Personally, I always thought he would end up at Barcelona, as he has all the attributes you normally find in a Barcelona player,” he told the club’s official website. “It will take him some time to adapt to English football, because initially he will not be used to the physicality and intensity of the Premier League.
“Simply put, he will never have had to run as much in a game before, for the whole 90 minutes. However, it is just lazy to suggest that his size means he will not be a success in England. You only have to look at players like David Silva, Bernardo Silva, Juan Mata and his former Villarreal teammate Santi Cazorla to see that.”
OPINION
Well, this is encouraging reading for the West Ham faithful, isn’t it? There’s no doubt that Fornals is one of the most exciting players the club has signed for some time now, as evidenced by the frenzied reaction to some of his in-game skills that have surfaced on Twitter recently. He’s a clearly a tremendously talented footballer, and anyone who secures caps for Spain in this day and age is always going to be a pretty handy player. As for his size, that shouldn’t be a problem. As Balague says, we’ve seen playmakers as diminutive as the Silvas and Cazorla come over to the Premier League and take the division by storm. It’s too early to say that Fornals will replicate their impact, of course, but he’s certainly got the ability and the track record to make a big impact in the top flight. Obviously the adaptation will be pretty tough from a physical standpoint at first, but he will soon master that and will likely be a terrific success at the London Stadium.
