West Ham closing in on deal for Villarreal attacking midfielder Pablo Fornals

The Hammers are close to sealing a 24 million euros move for Fornals, who has been capped twice for Spain.

With Manuel Pelligrini looking to strengthen his options in the West Ham midfield as the transfer window quickly approaches, it looks like he’s found a vital piece that could be important in next year’s campaign. According to The Guardian, negotiations for Fornals have run smoothly and though he hasn’t agreed on personal terms yet, the hope is that the deal will be solidified within the next few days.

West Ham’s director of football, Mario Husillos, is familiar with Fornals during his time at Malaga, which has been a big reason they are trying to sign the Spaniard. Husillos is very aware of the creative abilities Fornals has in the final third, making him the perfect target for a West Ham side that lacks creativity in their midfield.

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The 23-year old began his career with Malaga’s second team in 2014, eventually getting the call up to play first-team football in 2015. He signed with Villarreal in 2017, the team who he began his youth career with at the young age of seven.

This year with Villarreal, Fornals scored twice and added three assists in 35 La Liga appearances, a bit of a down year for the midfielder. But since the 2017/18 campaign, he’s tallied 15 assists. Villarreal struggled to score goals this year, finishing in 14th place, but Fornals set up 45 goal-scoring chances for his strikers, although just two turned into assists. He has a special eye for picking out a pass, one of his best assets as a midfielder. Fornals has great skill and though he doesn’t score a lot of goals, the ability to bury it in the back of the net is there. He’s also represented his country of Spain twice at the international level.

Manuel Pelligrini looks eager to get several deals completed early in the summer. West Ham has quickly moved on from trying to sign Barcelona loanee Andre Gomes, who wants to return back to Goodison Park. They have also been targetting Celta Vigo midfielder Stanislav Lobotka.

After releasing veteran Andy Carroll, The Hammers are eager to sign a striker as well. Their two main needs will be up front and in the midfield, but they still have lots of time to complete signings.

If Fornals does end up at London Stadium, it will be a very nice addition to the club.