Salt, meet wounds. While David Moyes was putting forward his candidate for the ‘Most Unconvincing Fake Laugh of the Year award’, West Ham United predecessor Manuel Pellegrini had every reason to smile with sincerity.
His Real Betis side came from behind to defeat Girona on Sunday afternoon, thus maintaining a three-point gap between themselves and La Liga leaders Real Madrid. And there were no surprises about the identity of the man who turned a potentially damaging 1-0 defeat into a hard-fought 2-1 win either.
Borja Iglesias scored a respectable 10 goals in the Spanish top flight last season. With six in six so far this term, however, he is already more-than halfway to beating that tally. In fact, this is shaping up to be Iglesias’ finest campaign since he scored 17 times for Espanyol in 2018/19; a season that paved the way for his £26 million move to the Estadio Benito Villamarin.
West Ham were keen on Iglesias following his breakthrough, top-flight season. Per AS, they inquired again back in May. Presumably, in the hope that Real Betis’ uncertain financial situation would force them to sell. The Hammers turned to Gianluca Scamacca instead, however, and Pellegrini will be counting his lucky stars that they did.
West Ham United asked about Real Betis striker Borja Iglesias
“I am very happy for him because he deserved it,” Pellegrini says; the late-blooming Iglesias rewarded with a first-ever call-up to the Spanish national team ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
“He has worked a lot, especially with his back to the goal. He has always been a goalscorer.”
“It’s incredible,” Iglesias tells ESPN; discussing his transformation from semi-reliable centre-forward into one of Spanish football’s most feared marksmen.
“Sometimes, if you sit and think about it too much, it makes you feel a bit dizzy.”
With a World Cup place within his grasp, with Champions League football at Real Betis a very real possibility, it’s unlikely Iglesias is glancing over at Scamacca on the West Ham bench and wishing that was him.
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