THE focus at West Ham United is clearly upon staying in the top flight of the Premier League and therefore hoping to avoid the kind of player exodus to which Claret and Hugh have already alluded today.
However behind the scenes there must be something akin to panic at the sheer scale of work likely if the Hammers get swallowed up by the relegation monster. Anything from eight to eighteen players could be out of the door which would leave the Irons without a functioning squad to start the Championship campaign in just twelve weeks’ time.
All of which probably explains the rumours of feelers being put out for more ‘attainably – priced’ players who’d serve as likely replacements should the great sell – off commence next month.
Hence Pablo Fornals‘ team mate at Real Betis suddenly appearing on the radar as one in whom West Ham have apparently ‘expressed an interest’, according to South American Football twitter journo @canaldeoctavio:
“Real Betis in Spain: The club has decided to try to offload the Colombian this summer and believes it wouldn’t be a bad deal for the athlete to change airs.
In addition to the Cruzmaltino, [Club Vasco de Game in Brazil] the English club West Ham has also shown interest in the player.
Former Hammer Pablo Fornals is Nelson Deossa’s team mate at Real Betis
Nelson Deossa is a 26-year-old left-footed midfielder, 1.85 m tall, and is on the preliminary list for the Colombian National Team. Currently, his market value is 9.8 million euros.
That’s a very ‘Championship’ price for a midfielder who can’t make the grade in La Liga in Spain. One to watch in the summer – he’ll certainly get a ringing endorsement from cult Hammer Fornals should he need further guidance about heading to east London.