Dean Ashton is thrilled to see Pablo Fornals join the Irons dubbing him “a striker’s dream to play with.”

The former Hammers hero told www.whufc.com: “Fornals is a player that is going to excite West Ham fans.

Nowadays I think a lot of teams are looking more at younger prospects that can improve – like Fornals – and he’s already shown with the Spain Under-21s, like with that winning goal he scored against Belgium, that he has real quality.

“Maybe at times last season that was something the team was slightly lacking in midfield; that bit of creativity to break certain teams down, but he can add that for sure. Fornals would absolutely be a striker’s dream to play with.”

 

But Ashton reckons Fornals will have a battle making the line-up with the plethoria of players available to the manager in midfield although he reckons he will meet the challenge.

He added: “It’s going to be difficult for him to force his way straight in because of the quality that is already there. We’ve seen in previous seasons unfortunately though that injuries play their part.

“Yarmolenko missing most of last season was a real blow and Lanzini only really got himself back and fully fit towards the end of the season. I think Fornals will look at it, as every new signing should do, as a real opportunity to stake a claim early on.”