Jack Wilshere is ready for the new season after fully recovering from an ankle injury
Friday 19 July 2019 11:19, UK
West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini says club-record signing Sebastien Haller will play in important role in their squad this season due to a lack of strikers.
The Hammers completed a club-record £45m transfer for Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt on a five-year deal on Wednesday.
The French striker, who scored 20 goals in all competitions last season, has been brought in after three strikers left the east London club this summer.
Pellegrini said: "Of course it was important to sign him, because if you compare this squad with the squad of last season, there are three strikers who are not here anymore - Marko Arnautovic, Andy Carroll, and Lucas Perez.
"We followed a lot of them, and finally we decided Sebastien Haller was the player we needed in this team, because in his career he's a player who scored goals, but he's not just a box player, I think he can come back and assist with our technical midfielders, so I hope he can be a very good player for our team."
West Ham are preparing to face Newcastle in the third-place play-off of the Premier League Asia Trophy on Saturday after a defeat against Manchester City, in what will be the Tyneside club's first game since Steve Bruce's appointment.
Pellegrini added: "I think that Steve [Bruce] is a manager with a lot of experience in England, so he will know exactly the way Newcastle must play and the players they have.
"We are going to try to use the complete squad, so I hope that tomorrow we can play the 90 minutes better than we did against Man City."
Hammers midfielder Jack Wilshere endured a tough first season at the club after moving on a free transfer from Arsenal last summer, missing 30 games through an ankle injury he picked up in September.
However, the 27-year-old feels ready to start the start the new season after recovering from his 15th serious injury.
Wilshere said: "I joined a new team, I wanted a new challenge and I wanted to play. I was really happy with the way I started - OK, the team didn't start well, but I thought I was playing well. Then to pick up an injury and miss so much of the season was devastating.
"But I put that behind me and came back. I wanted to come back at the end of last season and be involved and around the team again because I miss that. I miss travelling with the team, being part of it, especially when it was a new team and I was still getting to know everyone.
"That's behind me, this is a new season. I've had a good first couple of weeks away with the boys, it's nice again to be involved with that team, and now I want to push on."
West Ham have also brought in Pablo Fornals from Villarreal to bolster their midfield this summer, and Wilshere believes the new additions will only help improve competition in the squad.
He added: "There's a lot of quality in the team, especially in the midfield area, and it's down to myself to show the manager in training, and when I get the opportunity to play, that you're important to this team.
"But it's a long season so we're going to need all the squad. Adding quality players is only going to help us also, so I'm looking forward to it."
