[ad_pod ]

West Ham United have completed the signing of Spanish central attacking midfielder Pablo Fornals from Villarreal.

The deal is said to be worth £24m and is the second most expensive in the club's history with both Director of Football Mario Husillos and Manuel Pellegrini huge fans of the two-time Spanish international.

It seems like many members of the Claret & Blue Army are joining the duo in getting excited about this deal too as they've foolishly fallen head over heels for Fornals on Twitter this week. But there are many reasons they shouldn't be getting too excited about the 23-year-old.

There's no doubt that the Spaniard has the Dimitri Payet factor about him, that born ability to produce something special and turn a game on its head.

A brief look at any number of the typical videos about the player on YouTube will reveal the whole host of skills, flicks, tricks and stunning cross-field balls in his armoury. It's definitely enough to remind you of a certain Frenchman.

But if we talk about Payet for a second, just think about what all of his pre-hype arrival and excellent start to life in east London ended up unravelling into. The Felipe Anderson signing has gone in a different direction so far, but it is always a risk when you sign high-profile players for big transfer fees - even Marko Arnautovic has had some big issues.

Anyway, Fornals clearly lacks the potency of the famous number 27 having registered just two goals and three assists in La Liga last term.

Plus, have these fans stopped to think about where he possibly fits into Pellegrini's squad and whether he's truly needed at London Stadium?

With Manuel Lanzini the number-ten-in-chief at the club and keen to make up for lost time in 2018/2019 next season, will he even be starting?

And besides, back-up for the Argentine international could have been found in the academy should he suffer another serious injury, or even in the much cheaper Samir Nasri option.

If David Gold and David Sullivan were going to splash the cash on a midfielder this summer, it should have been someone used to playing a little further back, a potential long-term partner for Declan Rice.

And if they are planning to pair up Fornals with Rice that would be completely misusing his limited talents and potentially leaving the latter way too exposed.

Instead they're making the Spaniard one of the marquee signings of the summer months and whilst the deal is an instant crowd-pleaser, Hammers may end up wondering if these funds could have been used more wisely further down the line.