Lanzini and Fornals offer West Ham rounded alternatives to each other

This summer the question has to be asked: Is there somebody like Lanzini? That could make us happy? That plays the West Ham way?

Well if there is Fornals could be that guy. West Ham signed the Spaniard earlier in the summer as Pellegrini looks to add a more attacking flavour to the centre of our midfield. With people worrying that Lanzini might not return to his previous best, Fornals is an exciting buy. The fact we haven’t had to sell Lanzini to have him in the side is even more so.

Whilst the idea of having two players like this available at any one time is interesting, we’re unlikely to be playing both of them at once. Unless we’re really dominating, neither is a type of player that will assist Rice regularly or boost our defence. So most of the time its an either or. But I don’t think they’re directly interchangeable.

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Lanzini didn’t play too much last year, but the previous season he played 2054 minutes, compared to Fornals’ 2600. Fornals about matched that last year for a total of 5111, whereas due to injury Lanzini only managed 2747 total. I’m mentioning this not as a boost for either player, but as a reason I’ll select different stats over time, or why they might be relevant. It’s also pertinent to notice that Villareal’s seasons were very different, with their 17-18 season going well and ending in a 5th place finish, whereas in 18-19 they struggled domestically to a 14th place finish. But, I digress, on with the stats.

Whilst both take a similiar number of shots per 90 (1.9 for Fornals, 1.8 for Lanzini) the Argentine is ahead in both expected goals per 90 (0.16 to 0.12) and actual goals per 90 (0.2 to 0.1). Without knowing all the shot situations we can assume that Lanzini has had clearer opportunities, or Fornals is a little more trigger happy from distance. But the real difference in this comes in their linking and buildup play.

Whilst most Hammers fans think of Lanzini as a key player in our build up, Fornals was even more instrumental to his previous side. Fornals outscores Lanzini in Assists per 90, expected assists per 90, Key Passes per 90 and xGChain per 90. This is a player who even when his passes aren’t directly leading to goals, they’re the pass that leads to the creation of a goalscoring opportunity. To put in some context, over the past two seasons Fornals has been more creative (in expected Goals generated) than the likes of Sigurdsson, Tielemans or Maddison. (Siggurdsson and Maddison outscore Fornals in the scoring department, but also take set-pieces.)

So my verdict on Fornals is that he could be a great addition to our side. We’re really looking like we’ve got a great squad and to add someone who is definitely an exponent of ‘The West Ham Way’ in the pass and move attack will hopefully get the fans on side. If we can use him to make the likes of Yarmolenko, Anderson and Antonio more dangerous…they we could be a real tricky side to come up against.