West Ham United appear to have taken advantage of the crisis at Valencia by agreeing a €27m fee for attacking midfielder Pablo Fornals.
The La Liga side endured a tumultuous campaign last season, falling to 14th in the league table. As a result, many of their stars are expected to be sold as part of a rebuild, with Fornals expected to be one of the first out the exit door.
According to Marca, Villarreal will not have to wait long to sell Fornals, as West Ham have already agreed a €27m deal to sign the 23-year-old.
Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini pursued Fornals in January, but was told he would have to meet his release clause of €33m to sign the Spaniard. He refused to do so, and Villarreal have now been forced to accept a lower offer as they are desperate to finance a total rebuild.
Given they will not feature in any European competition next season, Villarreal want to drastically cut costs, and it is thought that a few more players could soon be on their way out of the club.
West Ham are expected to be on the lookout for a number of attacking reinforcements this summer. Lucas Perez, Samir Nasri and Andy Carroll have already left the club, while Javier Hernandez, Michail Antonio and Marko Arnautovic continue to be linked with moves away from the club.
Fornals made 50 appearances for Villarreal last season, operating primarily as an attacking midfielder. He was also regularly used as a winger, and this versatility could be a great help to Pellegrini, who may need players to fill in a number of positions to replace his outgoing forwards.
The 23-year-old managed five goals and six assists in all competitions during the 2018/19 campaign, but was unable to prevent Villarreal from slipping down the La Liga table.
Should a move to the London Stadium go through, Fornals would join up with a West Ham side who are desperately pushing for Europa League qualification. They have been linked with expensive moves for the likes of Maxi Gomez, Franck Kessie and Alexis Claude-Maurice, as they look to build on their tenth-placed finish last season.
Source : 90min