Speaking ahead of West Ham’s Europa Conference quarter-final first-leg tie away to Belgian Cup holders KAA Gent on Thursday evening, Maxwel Cornet has stressed the tournaments importance to himself and the club.
At a time when focus might understandably be on remaining in the Premier League, the £17m summer signing has spoken to the clubs official site and he can barely contain his excitement.
It’s fair to say that former Burnley winger has failed to live up to expectations since signing for the Hammers. However following his recovery from an unusually protracted calf injury he’s now ready to to help fire the team to glory.
The 26th year old spent 5 months on the sidelines following a collision with Daniel Podence as the Hammers beat Wolverhampton Wanderers in October. The hiatus couldn’t have come at a worse time for Cornet, who had just started to settle and form a promising partnership with Gianluca Scamacca.
Cornet has his eyes on the prize
“The Conference League is important,” he told West Ham’s media team. “You can’t underestimate this competition, it’s an important competition, for us the players, for the Club and the coach too. So, in every game in this tournament, we will give 100 per cent.
“European experience is really important for this kind of game because it’s a high level and we know we want to do something in this competition, so we all have to be focused on this goal.
“European football is different, but you have the same goal. To win a trophy for the Club can be the best thing for me for my first season. It was not a season for me with my injury, but now I am back and I want to do everything to go to the final and win this trophy.”