Sidelined since the beginning of December with an ankle injury, Edimilson Fernandes is slowly but surely on his way to making his return for West Ham.
The 21-year-old, who dreams of nothing else than being on that plane to Russia come the end of the season, is currently with Switzerland’s U21s for the international break in a bid to get some game time under his belt prior to featuring for the Hammers in the Premier League.
Speaking to Le Matin in his home country, the young midfielder explained his reasoning behind this decision.
He said: “I preferred to start with the U21s again to try and get back into a rhythm. [Since his move to West Ham], I’ve become stronger mentally. When I played in Switzerland, I sometimes relaxed after 70 minutes, I was less bothered after a while.
“That’s impossible in England where you have to be fully switched on for 90 minutes”.
Going through some downs as he recovered from injury, Fernandes had to watch his team slowly drop down the Premier League table, and witnessed the pitch invasion as a fan rather than a player.
He continued: “With the players we have, we really should be offering something else. Our fans are angry and I can understand them”.
Hopefully for the club, with his return, things will change over the coming months and West Ham will avoid the drop back to the Championship.
For that to happen, the team will have to turn up, and that’s something Fernandes is keen on doing, as it’ll help both the Hammers and his chances to play at the World Cup over the summer.
