West Ham United’s summer signing Pablo Fornals is set to start Monday’s clash with Aston Villa on the substitute’s bench once again, according to Claret & Hugh.
The outlet claims that the 23-year-old will once again be assigned a watching brief from the beginning of the game at Villa Park, despite the money the Hammers spent on him.
However, polarising 6ft 3in Italian Angelo Ogbonna [Source: Transfermarkt] is said to be certain to start against Dean Smith’s side.
OPINION
It’s clear that manager Manuel Pellegrini is keen to manage Fornals’ adaptation to English football carefully and, besides, he has plenty of other options in attacking midfield at the moment. Andriy Yarmolenko had a great game against Norwich City last time out, while Manuel Lanzini and Felipe Anderson are both in top form at the moment. If they weren’t playing quite as well then perhaps the former Villarreal man would be getting rushed into the first team, but they are performing excellently and so Pellegrini can afford to take things slow with Fornals. As for Ogbonna, it’s the right decision to continue with his partnership with Issa Diop at the heart of the Irons’ defence. The two men just seem to be a little more solid and finely balanced than when Diop is paired with Fabian Balbuena, and so they would appear to be the right choice for Monday’s game.
