West Ham legend Tony Cottee says it is time for the club to kick on in the Premier League after landing £25million man Pablo Fornals.
Having already landed two new goalkeepers on free transfers, West Ham last week splashed out to bring the Spanish midfielder in from Villarreal and are now chasing Celta Vigo’s Maxi Gomez as Manuel Pellegrini looks to add a new striker to the mix.
The Hammers spent £100million in Pellegrini’s first summer and, while the east Londoners will not fork out quite as much this time around, they are prepared to continue their investment before the start of the new season.
With Fornals adding to an already talented midfield and attacking line, Cottee says it is about time his former club put their foot down in the Premier League.
“Most importantly on Fornals, he’s a young player who has been playing at a high level in Spain and he’s an attacking midfielder, so I’m looking forward to seeing how he slots in,” Cottee told the club website.
“We’ve got some outstanding midfield players and we’ve got some outstanding wide players as well, so the manager will have plenty of options
“Hopefully it’s going to be a really good signing for the club, and again we’re not buying players for £4m now, we’re buying players for £24m and that shows you where the club are. We’re a top ten club – we finished tenth last year and we’ve got to build on that. We’ve got to push on.”
With sporting director Mario Husillos having now worked alongside Pellegrini at the club for over a year, business this summer has a far more structured feel to it than in transfer windows gone by. Something, Cottee feels, the club deserve credit for.
“Credit to the club, they’re trying to do things the right way,” he said. “We’ve brought in three players already and I don’t think we need loads and loads.
“We’re not far away from getting our squad in a position [where we need to be]. We probably need another forward in my opinion, so hopefully we’ll get that done.
“Let’s get the players in, get them ready for pre-season in Switzerland and China – get to know your teammates and get them all ready and geared up for that first game.”
