West Ham United have splashed the cash to sign Pablo Fornals.
Sky Sports’ Spanish football expert Terry Gibson has told the Sky Sports News Transfer Talk podcast that he’s gutted Tottenham Hotspur didn’t sign West Ham United new boy Pablo Fornals.
The Hammers were in the market for a new ball-playing midfielder, and swooped to land Villarreal star Fornals last week in a big-money move.
As reported by The Guardian, West Ham paid £24million to bring Fornals to East London, reuniting him with director of football Mario Husillos.
Fornals, 23, appears to be an exciting addition to the West Ham midfield, and notched five goals and six assists for Villarreal last season as he impressed yet again.
The Spaniard – who scored a superb winner for Spain’s Under-21’s against Belgium this evening – should play a key role for West Ham, and many are backing him to become a Premier League star.
Now, La Liga expert Gibson has admitted that he wishes Spurs had signed Fornals instead of West Ham, given that Tottenham are the team he supports.
Gibson added that he would play Fornals as a number 10 behind a lone striker, and compared him to Dele Alli and James Maddison, believing he should be given the freedom to create and attack rather than be shackled with defensive duties.
“I think he’s a sensational player, he really is,” said Gibson. “I’m a Spurs fan, and I would have loved Spurs to have sign him, so I’m pretty envious of West Ham getting a really exciting young player.”
“He’s an all-round midfield player, he’s versatile, he can play wide, he can play central midfield, but he’s very attacking. His work rate is good, and in my opinion, his best position is if a team play a 4-4-1-1 formation, and he plays that role behind the striker, so you allow him to flourish, you allow him to get on the ball, you allow him to do everything good that he does in the game. I would say he would be very similar to someone like Dele Alli or James Maddison who play in that role, where you encourage them to just go and be attack-minded and to be creative, so I think he’s a player that the West Ham supporters will really enjoy watching,” he added.
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