SOAR POINT
New boy Fredericks can’t believe quality at Hammers and predicts lift-off under boss Pellegrini
MANUEL PELLEGRINI will be unveiled as West Ham boss today — and has been told to expect the club to “soar”.
The former Manchester City boss (right) will speak about his hopes for the new season after taking over from David Moyes. And the Chilean has been urged to be bullish — because West Ham’s summer transfer splurge is about to pay dividends.
That’s according to new boy Ryan Fredericks, who has been massively impressed by what he has seen at the club since making a switch from newlypromoted Fulham.
The 25-year-old, who arrived on a free after making the Championship team of the year last season, singled out fellow arrival Jack Wilshere as a reason to be confident. He said: “Jack is going to help us soar up the table. He is a classy player. We all know the quality he’s got. He’s been in and out with injuries but hopefully we’ll keep him fit all season.” West Ham broke their transfer record to sign Brazilian playmaker Felipe Anderson in a £ 42million move earlier this summer . He joins fellow new boys Andriy Yarmolenko, Wilshere, Lukasz Fabianski, Fabian Balbuena, Issa Diop and Fredericks at the London Stadium. A new striker is now on West Ham’s radar with Paraguay star Angel Romero being considered. “The lads are great here,” said Fredericks, “and it’s a massive club.
“I’m buzzing to be here. I want to use pre-season to get fitter and hopefully I can do the business on the pitch.”
The right- sided defender is especially looking forward to combining with Yarmolenko. “Yarmo is an exciting player and I think we complement each other quite well,” he said.
“He can go one-v-one and also come inside and link the play and I can get around him and leave him to do his bits. We’ve both got a bit of pace so we look like we could show a little combination down that side.” A rejuvenated Marko Arnautovic is another to have impressed Fredericks.
“Marko is an animal,” he said. “He just holds people off for fun, he’s got a great touch, and he can do bits of magic like he did at Preston at the weekend.
“It is exactly what you need to be challenging at the right end of the table. You need top forward players and that’s what we’ve got.”
Pellegrini became the first manager from outside Europe to win the English League title when he guided City to top spot in 2014 but he was replaced by Pep Guardiola two years later.