There will be no resting on their laurels for Pablo Fornals and his West Ham United teammates after the UEFA Europa Conference League winners returned to pre-season training on Thursday.
A shade over four weeks from that glorious night in Prague, the Hammers first teamers not involved in international football were back at Rush Green to begin their preparations for the 2023/24 campaign – another which will take on the dual challenge of domestic and European football following our qualification for the UEFA Europa League.
Fornals had even more reason for celebration in June after the dramatic 2-1 victory over ACF Fiorentina was swiftly followed by his wedding to Tania back home in Spain.
A whirlwind honeymoon to Thailand later and the Irons’ No8 is back and ready to ensure the success at the back end of last season was not a flash in the pan.
“It was an unbelievable month for me,” Fornals told whufc.com “Thank God everything went well – the final, the wedding, the honeymoon, the rest. It was lovely and now we’re back.
“Everyone has come back with a smile on their face after what happened in Prague. Obviously you want to stay in that moment when you win, it was such a great moment for the Club. We want to keep growing, keep thinking big things and try to improve over the last season.
“Coming back to Rush Green and seeing the imagery of the final around the place is fantastic. West Ham has had a great history and a lot of big players have played for this badge, but in this moment where we are this is what happened and we are in that moment where we reached a final, won a cup and we have to be proud and happy for that.”
Thursday’s return saw the players undergo screening and scanning as head of medical services Richard Collinge and his staff checked the health of each player and set their data benchmarks for the coming season.
They then got down to work in the gym before taking to the pitches at Rush Green for a first training session of the 2023/24 campaign. Fornals was happy to get a touch of the football again so early into the preparatory work.
They will get an early taste of match action as well, with the first pre-season match set for Monday when the Hammers travel to National League side Boreham Wood, before embarking on a tour to Australia where they will take on Perth Glory and Tottenham Hotspur. Click here for ticket information on all three fixtures.
“It felt nice to get the boots back on,” he added. “It is nice to be back and on the pitch from day one, to touch the ball. Obviously working hard, but touching the ball for us is massive as well.
“We have an early game at Boreham Wood. We’ll try to keep building confidence there and adding minutes to the tank.
“Then we head to Australia and it is a big trip for the Club. We’re going overseas to play a few games, to meet another continent and country, another culture.
“We’re going to enjoy the experience and obviously compete in the matches we have too.”
