Pablo Fornals

Pablo Fornals Malla (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpaβlo foɾˈnals]; born 22 February 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Premier League club West Ham United mainly as an attacking midfielder.

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Fornals and the second or maternal family name is Malla.
Pablo Fornals
Fornals with Villarreal in 2018
Personal information
Full name Pablo Fornals Malla[1]
Date of birth (1996-02-22) 22 February 1996[2]
Place of birth Castellón, Spain[2]
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder
Club information
Current team
 West Ham United
Number 18
Youth career
2003–2008 Villarreal
2008–2012 Castellón
2012–2014 Málaga
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Málaga B 41 (12)
2015–2017 Málaga 59 (7)
2017–2019 Villarreal 70 (5)
2019– West Ham United 57 (4)
National team‡
2016–2019 Spain U21 17 (2)
2016– Spain 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 06:51, 4 February 2021 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 30 June 2019

He amassed La Liga totals of 129 matches and 12 goals over four seasons, with Málaga and Villarreal. In 2019, he signed with West Ham United.

Fornals made his senior debut for Spain in 2016.

Club career

Málaga

Born in Castellón de la Plana, Valencian Community, Fornals joined Málaga CF's youth setup in 2012 at the age of 16, from CD Castellón.[3] He made his senior debut with the reserves in the 2014–15 season, in Tercera División.

Fornals' first competitive match with the first team – and in La Liga – occurred on 26 September 2015, when he started in a 0–0 away draw against Real Madrid.[4] Two months and two days later, he scored his first top-flight goal in a 2–2 draw with Andalusian neighbours Granada CF at La Rosaleda Stadium, finding the net four minutes after replacing Duda.[5]

On 4 December 2016, Fornals scored a brace in a 2–2 draw at Valencia CF.[6]

Villarreal

On 24 July 2017, having paid his own €12 million buyout clause to leave Málaga,[7] Fornals moved to fellow league side Villarreal CF, a club he already represented as a youth, agreeing to a five-year contract.[8] The following 13 January, he scored a late chip after a counterattack to give his new team their first-ever win against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium (1–0).[9]

On 26 September 2018, Fornals opened the scoring in a league fixture away to Athletic Bilbao with a dipping volley from 50 yards, in an eventual 3–0 victory.[10][11]

West Ham United

On 14 June 2019, Fornals signed for West Ham United on a five-year contract for a transfer fee reported to be £24 million, making him the English club's second most expensive signing.[12][13] He made his Premier League debut on 10 August, in a 5–0 home defeat by Manchester City coming on as a half-time substitute for Michail Antonio.[14] He scored his first goal for his new team on 27 August, in a 2–0 victory over Newport County for the second round of the EFL Cup.[15]

International career

On 28 March 2016, Fornals won his first cap with the Spain under-21s by playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win against Norway at the Estadio Nueva Condomina.[16] On 17 May, he was called up to the full squad by Vicente del Bosque for a friendly with Bosnia and Herzegovina.[17] He made his debut 12 days later, replacing Mikel San José in the 3–1 victory at the AFG Arena in St. Gallen, Switzerland.[18]

Fornals was a member of the team which won the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in June.[19] In the tournament held in Italy and San Marino, he scored in group stage defeats of Belgium (2–1)[20] and Poland (5–0).[21]

Career statistics

Club
As of 11 January 2021[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Málaga 2015–16 La Liga 27120––291
2016–17 La Liga 32620––346
Total 59740–00637
Villarreal 2017–18 La Liga 35340–71464
2018–19 La Liga 35230–123505
Total 70570–194969
West Ham United 2019–20 Premier League 3622121–404
2020–21 1621000–172
Total 5243121–576
Career total 180161412119421522

International
As of 18 November 2018[23]
Spain
YearAppsGoals
201610
201810
Total20

Honours

International

Spain U21

References
  1. "Acta del partido celebrado el 30 de marzo de 2019, en Vigo" [Minutes of the match held on 30 March 2019, in Vigo] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 30 March 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  2. "Pablo Fornals" (in Spanish). Eurosport. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  3. Cortés, Sergio (25 March 2015). "Sellada la renovación de Pablo, a corto plazo en la órbita del primer equipo" [Sealed the renewal of Pablo, short-time target for the first team]. Diario Sur (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  4. Siguero, Santiago (26 September 2015). "Kameni para al Madrid" [Kameni stops Madrid]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  5. "Fornals, la última perla del Málaga" [Fornals, Málaga's latest gem]. Marca (in Spanish). 29 November 2015. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  6. Egea, Pablo (4 December 2016). "Fornals borra la sonrisa de Prandelli" [Fornals wipes Prandelli's smile]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  7. "Pablo Fornals pays own release clause to join Villarreal from Malaga". Sky Sports. 24 July 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  8. "Pablo Fornals regresa al Villarreal CF" [Pablo Fornals returns to Villarreal CF] (in Spanish). Villarreal CF. 24 July 2017. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
  9. "Fornals produces wonderful moment to secure a historic victory at the Bernabeu". Marca. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
  10. Haisley, Billy (26 September 2018). "Pablo Fornals might have just scored the goal of the season". Deadspin. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  11. "Spain discovers next midfield talent in Pablo Fornals". USA Today. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
  12. "Pablo Fornals: West Ham sign Spain forward for £24m". BBC Sport. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
  13. "Fornals: Why moving to West Ham was the easiest decision". West Ham United F.C. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  14. Rose, Gary (10 August 2019). "West Ham 0–5 Manchester City: Raheem Sterling gets hat-trick in VAR-dominated game". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
  15. Pritchard, Dafydd (27 August 2019). "Carabao Cup: Newport County 0–2 West Ham United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 August 2019.
  16. Criado, José (29 March 2016). "Pablo Fornals debuta con la sub´21 y se gusta" [Pablo Fornals debuts with the under-21 and impresses]. La Opinión de Málaga (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  17. "Pablo called-up to join Spain's first team". Málaga CF. 17 May 2016. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  18. Campos, Tomás (29 May 2016). "Nolito endulza un duelo atípico" [Nolito sweetens an atypical duel]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  19. Begley, Emlyn (30 June 2019). "Spain U21 2–1 Germany U21". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
  20. García, Miguel Ángel (19 June 2019). "Fornals mantiene en pie a España" [Fornals keeps Spain standing]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  21. Zárate, Óscar (22 June 2019). "5–0: Manita de oro de La Rojita" [5–0: Golden fiver by La Rojita]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  22. "Pablo Fornals". Soccerway. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  23. "Pablo Fornals". European Football. Retrieved 10 June 2018.
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