Pablo Fornals will struggle to regain a starting spot with West Ham in the near future, according to Football.London journalist Sam Inkersole.
The Spaniard has made just one Premier League start since arriving from Villarreal for £24 million this summer, and Inkersole believes that given the form of his teammates, he may have to wait a while to add to that tally.
Writing in a piece for Football.London, he said: “Time is not something that is often given in the Premier League however, more often than not you need to hit the ground running.
“Much like [Jack] Wilshere, Fornals will struggle to regain a starting spot in the short term thanks to the form of the midfield.”
OPINION
You fear that Inkersole may be right about this one. Fornals is a fine player, there is no doubt about that, but he has taken some time to get up to speed in the Premier League, and that has allowed others to jump over him in the pecking order. His form over the summer at the U21 European Championships was exemplary, and he averaged 2.4 shots on goal, 1.8 key passes, and 1.2 successful dribbles per game during that tournament, as per Whoscored, but he has failed to replicate that kind of glittering output in England thus far, managing just 0.5 shots per game and 0.8 successful dribbles. His time will surely come, but right now, with Andriy Yarmolenko, Felipe Anderson, and Manuel Lanzini all in impressive form, it is not immediately clear as to when he will next get his chance to stake a claim for a starting role.
