Ben Johnson absolutely raved about his West Ham United teammate Pablo Fornals when speaking to the club’s official website.
The Spaniard joined the Hammers from La Liga side Villarreal in the summer of 2019 for around £24 million (BBC).
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Fornals made a fairly inconspicuous start to life at the London Stadium but he has gone on to establish himself as a real cult hero amongst the West Ham fans.
Pablo has bagged 15 goals and 14 assists in 112 games for the Hammers (Transfermarkt). He arrived in East London with a big reputation as a real creative force.
Fornals has had to adapt his game under David Moyes, however, into more of a combative midfielder.
He’s racked up five goals and three assists in 25 games for West Ham so far this season (Transfermarkt). During those appearances, he has averaged 1.6 tackles, 1.7 dribbles and 1.3 key passes per game (Who Scored).
The former Villarreal ace is a hugely important player for the Hammers and he proved against Wolves on Sunday just how crucial he is to our hopes of challenging for the top four this season.
Ben Johnson praises Pablo Fornals after West Ham United beat Wolves
The Hammers are now sitting in fifth spot in the Premier League table following our crucial win over Wolves on Sunday.
Fornals was one of the standout performers for West Ham at the London Stadium against the Black County outfit.
He was a real threat for us in the final third but also put in an unbelievable shift in the left wing-back role when we didn’t have the ball.
Ben Johnson spoke exclusively to WHUFC.com and highlighted just how important Fornals was for West Ham on Sunday:
“Pablo Fornals put in a fantastic shift against Wolves and it was overall just a great performance from all the boys.”
Johnson is right.
The job that Pablo did down the left hand flank for the Hammers against Wolves cannot be underestimated.
There are not many so-called flair players in world football who would happily play in a defensive role if asked to do so by their manager.
Fornals is undoubtedly somewhat of a rare breed in the modern era where the game is full of overhyped, overrated prima donnas.
We are very lucky to have Pablo at the London Stadium. And it seems as though one West Ham player in particular shares that viewpoint.
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