Real Betis manager Manuel Pellegrini has shared his delight at securing the signing of Pablo Fornals from West Ham, insisting he already knows how good he is from their time together at the London Stadium.
The Betis boss has been speaking to the press ahead of his side’s clash with Getafe on Sunday, during which the late arrival of Fornals was naturally a topic of discussion.
The Spanish side had to wait until yesterday afternoon to discover if they’d been allowed to sign the Spanish midfielder after a computer issue late on deadline day put the move into jeopardy.
Fortunately for them, and indeed West Ham, FIFA ratified the transfer on Friday after going over the various documents and accepting that everything was above board.
Thus, Fornals made the return to Spain and reunited with Pellegrini, a manager he knows well as he is the man who took him to West Ham in the first place.
Reports throughout Betis’ pursuit had indicated it was that prior relationship which had made Betis push for him in January and Pellegrini hinted at that again in his comments on the deal.
“We already chose him for West Ham, he has a lot of back and forth, technically he is very gifted, with a lot of dynamics,” he said.
“We had Camarasa in that position here, but because of a serious injury he was unable to perform. Now we have been able to sign Pablo, who we know very well, and we hope that he will also contribute to us.”
And it seems the Chilean boss is not hesitating to thrown Fornals into the deep end, with Diario de Sevilla reporting Fornals was a part of training with his new side on Saturday.
They explain that the midfielder only arrived from West Ham on Friday night but was immediately a part of training under Pellegrini and is in the squad for the clash on Sunday too.
