Daniel Feliciano

Thu 23 November 2023 19:10, UK

Fabrizio Romano has shared an update on the future of West Ham ace Pablo Fornals after he was mentioned as a target for Barcelona.

Writing on his Daily Briefing (23 November) the reliable transfer journalist was responding to reports that the Catalan club could look at the Spaniard as a potential replacement for Gavi, who was seriously injured and ruled out for the rest of the season during the international break.

But Romano says there have been no concrete talks between the parties and he doesn’t expect a deal to be done imminently.

“There have been some surprise links between Pablo Fornals and Barcelona, with the West Ham midfielder mentioned as a surprising option to cover for the injured Gavi,” he wrote.

“Still, I’m not aware of concrete talks for Fornals so far, there’s still nothing decided in terms of new midfielder; as Deco said, the situation is still very quiet. Barcelona’s priority is to use funds on Financial Fair Play to register Vitor Roque.”

Odd

It always sounded like a really odd transfer rumour to begin with, and it’s not a surprise that it seems super unlikely to happen.

Fornals has struggled to get game time with West Ham this season and is behind the likes of Lucas Paqueta, Mohammed Kudus, Jarrod Bowen, Said Benrahma and James Ward-Prowse in the pecking order.

So the chances of him rocking up to Barcelona and landing game time because of Gavi’s injury with the quality of squad they have there just seems highly unlikely.

His contract is set to expire at the end of the season and a new deal doesn’t look likely right now considering his lack of minutes, so them paying a fee would also seem improbable while us sanctioning a loan is even less likely.

It’s not going to happen and we’re probably better off keeping him in and around the squad considering how busy the season is and we need plenty of depth, so we’ll make do with it.

In other West Ham news, EFL club want to sign Hammers starlet with this weekend “pivotal” to his future.