Pablo Fornals could play a starring role for the Hammers next season

It was a mixed debut season in the Premier League for Pablo Fornals, but now he has time to adjust, the West Ham midfielder could play a starring role in the upcoming campaign.

After ditching La Liga for England’s top flight, a lot was expected of the Spanish international as he arrived at West Ham with a hot reputation after impressing for both Malaga and Villarreal in his formative years.

Despite the evident ability, however, it was never going to be simple to adapt to the fast-paced, physical nature of the Premier League having only ever known the cultured style of football that the Spanish game opts for.

Having started as a slow burner due to not being granted consistent minutes under Manuel Pellegrini’s reign, Fornals bided his time and eventually earned his way into the starting XI as David Moyes spotted what he could add to the team, but perhaps not in a conventional way.

Yes, Fornals did prove his worth in terms of attacking output, with his playmaking ability playing a major part in a fair share of goals during the second half of the season, but Moyes knew that by playing him on the wing, he would always provide the necessary cover to support Aaron Cresswell in his defensive duties.

The 24-year-old has proved himself as a humble player who will sacrifice his own performance for the good of the team. Next season, though, most Hammers fans would love to see him flourish in a central area where he has less defensive responsibilities so that he can maximise his offensive output, primarily supplying the forward line, but also chipping in with more goals than the four he got last season.

With the return of a more experienced Grady Diangana, along with Felipe Anderson hopefully making a push back into the first-team, the left-hand side of Moyes’ team is well covered, and Fornals should be granted the opportunity to display his abilities in front of Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek, rather than constrain him to a position where his creativity will always be limited.

During the 2017/2018 La Liga season when playing for Villarreal, Fornals provided 12 assists while primarily operating through the centre of attacking midfield, as he played a huge helping hand in helping El Submarino Amarillo finish 5th in the table. The following season, he was pushed out to a wider role, and both his output and the team plummetted as they finished 14th.

This, of course, is not the only reason for the drastic change in fortunes, but there is a clear pattern which Moyes should try to eliminate during the forthcoming campaign.

Whilst it may be easy to take advantage of Fornals’ kind spirit, as no doubt he will be happy to play anywhere if it means helping out the team, Michail Antonio’s devastating end to last season is a fine example of what happens when you trust in a player’s ability to play in their position of choice, even if they don’t make a fuss about it.