After officially leaving West Ham to join Real Betis on Friday, February 3, Jesse Lingard wrote a letter to Pablo Fornals.
The Spaniard, who rejoins Manuel Pellegrini at the London Stadium after being signed by the Hammers in 2019, confirmed his exit on February 2.
On transfer deadline day, the 27-year-old midfielder’s transaction was supposed to close, but it was postponed due to a “computer problem” on the Hammers’ end before Betis filed a complaint with FIFA.
After a four and a half year tenure at the Hammers, the transition has officially been accomplished. Fornals announced his resignation on his Instagram account on February 2.
“Thanks for everything!” he wrote. I shall cherish you forever.
The former Hammer Lingard wrote, “Legend Pablito,” in retaliation to Fornals.
Perfect opportunity for Pablo Fornals in La Liga
When teams have had a whole month to complete business, it always seems so bizarre that they wait until the very end of the transfer window to finalize a transaction.
The transfer transaction hasn’t progressed more quickly before the deadline because West Ham and Real Betis have been arguing about a transfer price for the previous few days.
When West Ham failed to turn in the necessary papers, Said Benrahma’s departure also came to a halt, thus the story undoubtedly continued.
But now that both transactions have been finalized, the Hammers are certainly weaker and lighter offensively—especially in the absence of any signed replacements. We’ll have to wait and watch if Moyes is made to regret it.
The club will always cherish Fornals’ incredible semi-final goal against AZ Alkmaar, which sent them on their road to European triumph the previous year, but the Spaniard’s influence extends well beyond that.
He is a player that always gives it their all, is flamboyantly creative, hardworking, and will be greatly missed at the London Stadium.
After playing little under Moyes this season, Betis is the ideal addition to fire his La Liga career once more, and it will be interesting to watch how the Irons do without him.