West Ham completed the signing of Balbuena last week.
The 26-year-old has signed a three-year deal at the London Stadium after joining the club from Brazilian side Corinthians for a bargain price of just £3.5million, according to the Evening Standard.
He becomes the second centre-back West Ham have signed after Issa Diop from Toulouse, and the seventh deal of the summer that includes Lukasz Fabianski, Ryan Fredericks, Jack Wilshere, Felipe Anderson and Andriy Yarmolenko.
Asked whether he felt Balbuena would make the step up to the Premier League, former Manchester City boss Pellegrini responded with plenty of confidence in his new signing.
“Fabian is a strong and talented defender who has shown great leadership qualities with Corinthians in Brazil,” said the Chilean manager,” Pellegrini said.
“He is ready to prove his quality on a bigger stage and I believe he has the right character to succeed in the Premier League.”
Balbuena is known for his combative nature in defence and has earned seven Paraguay caps throughout his career – even captaining the South American side.
Balbuena and Diop will have to fight for a place in the West Ham side with Angelo Ogbonna, Winston Reid and Declan Rice also looking to start under Pellegrini when it comes the club’s first Premier League game of the season.
They travel to Anfield to face Liverpool on August 12, before facing Bournemouth, Arsenal and Wolves before the September international break.
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