West Ham made big error selling player for just £6.8m, he’d have flourished under Julen Lopetegui

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West Ham United should have been more patient with one player in particular before selling him.

The problem with West Ham holding on to David Moyes for too long was that the Scot failed to get the best of so many top quality players.

And now with Julen Lopetegui in charge at the London Stadium, a lot of them would have flourished in the Spaniard’s setup in my opinion.

Lopetegui made some great signings for the Hammers in the summer, bringing in nine new faces over the past couple of months.

And it has been claimed that the Spaniard is still in the market to bring in at least one more signing on a free transfer.

However, it is a player who left West Ham recently who would have fitted in perfectly under Lopetegui.

Pablo Fornals would’ve flourished under Julen Lopetegui

West Ham sold Pablo Fornals to Real Betis back in January for just £6.8 million (The Daily Mail).

Now, I get that he was poor for the Hammers during his final 12 months at the London Stadium, but it has to be said that Moyes’s system just didn’t suit him one little bit.

The Spaniard is a flair player who needs to be given the freedom to express himself on the ball – something that he was never handed under Moyes.

At the time, moving him on to Betis didn’t seem like a bad decision, even though Moyes didn’t bring in a replacement.

The lack of forward thinking from the board is what baffles me though.

They must have known that Moyes’s time was done at the London Stadium, and had they held on to Pablo, he would have a really useful weapon for us now.

West Ham should have kept Fornals with long-term vision

Pablo Fornals struggled during his final year or so at West Ham, mainly because he didn’t fit into Moyes’s system whereby players weren’t allowed to express themselves in possession.

Due to his struggles during his final 12-18 months with the Hammers, he surely would have been delighted to return home to Spain when he joined Real Betis, in spite of the love he had for the Hammers fans.

West Ham’s new manager Lopetegui likes his teams to have more possession than the opposition, and Fornals would have thrived in that system, I have no doubts about that.

The 28-year-old was never going to flourish with Moyes in charge, due to the Scot’s prehistoric route one tactics, and his insistence on his attacking players prioritising their defensive responsibility.

Had West Ham kept Pablo Fornals, the Spaniard would have provided really strong competition and cover for Lucas Paqueta and Carlos Soler.

It’s just such a shame that the Hammers owners didn’t have the foresight to veto Pablo’s move to Real Betis. He would have been a real asset with Lopetegui in charge, I’m convinced of it.