Pedro Obiang is back in training and ready to show what West Ham United fans why the Club brought him to the Barclays Premier League
Pedro Obiang is back in training and ready to show what West Ham United fans why the Club brought him to the Barclays Premier League.
The Spanish midfielder joined the Hammers from Italian Serie A side UC Sampdoria two months ago, but a niggling leg injury has restricted him to just a single pre-season appearance – against Peterborough United on 11 July.
This week, the 23-year-old returned to full training and he is hopeful of making up for lost time by making his competitive debut in Saturday’s Barclays Premier League visit of Leicester City.
“This week I was finally training with the whole squad, and I’m looking forward to giving a slight headache to the manager to show that I’m ready to play!” he told West Ham TV.
“Mainly my injury was fatigue, but I didn’t realise at first. I had a little bit of pain, but I kept training and may have overdone it a bit. I was just as a precautionary measure that I wasn’t ready for the Arsenal match. I could have been, but it I feel good now, and it’s all good.”
While he has played just 61 minutes in a Claret and Blue shirt, Obiang has received hundreds of tweets from West Ham supporters wishing him well.
Now that his debut is rapidly approaching, the midfielder is looking forward to repaying their support.
“Truthfully it has been a while, and I have received a lot of messages showing the affection and support from all the West Ham fans, and yes, the truth is that I want to show them what I can do, so I want to show that I can play for this squad.”
The Spanish midfielder joined the Hammers from Italian Serie A side UC Sampdoria two months ago, but a niggling leg injury has restricted him to just a single pre-season appearance – against Peterborough United on 11 July.
This week, the 23-year-old returned to full training and he is hopeful of making up for lost time by making his competitive debut in Saturday’s Barclays Premier League visit of Leicester City.
“This week I was finally training with the whole squad, and I’m looking forward to giving a slight headache to the manager to show that I’m ready to play!” he told West Ham TV.
“Mainly my injury was fatigue, but I didn’t realise at first. I had a little bit of pain, but I kept training and may have overdone it a bit. I was just as a precautionary measure that I wasn’t ready for the Arsenal match. I could have been, but it I feel good now, and it’s all good.”
While he has played just 61 minutes in a Claret and Blue shirt, Obiang has received hundreds of tweets from West Ham supporters wishing him well.
Now that his debut is rapidly approaching, the midfielder is looking forward to repaying their support.
“Truthfully it has been a while, and I have received a lot of messages showing the affection and support from all the West Ham fans, and yes, the truth is that I want to show them what I can do, so I want to show that I can play for this squad.”
It will be a matter of time, there is no problem, my English teacher will be arriving on 1 September, and I will hope to be speaking English soon!
While he has not been available himself, Obiang has kept a close eye on his teammates’ progress and was a thrilled observer as West Ham won 2-0 at Arsenal on Sunday – a match in which his absence gave 16-year-old Reece Oxford a chance to make his own Barclays Premier League debut.
“The match was very smart tactically, there was a lot of heart and passion in all of the players, and all of them gave 100 per cent,” he said. “They all gave everything they had, for example, I saw Mauro, going back and marking, so everyone gave their very best, and that is what led us to victory over Arsenal.
“I’m very happy for Reece because this has happened to me before as well, as a youngster, and sometimes the misfortune for someone brings an opportunity for another, and he did exactly what he had to do.
“He performed very well, had a very good match, it was not easy to play on that pitch, against a club like Arsenal, and he is definitely going to be a player with a bright future, and might give me some difficulties to get into the squad in the future.”
Now he is fit and ready to play, Obiang’s next challenge is to learn English, as he conducted his latest West Ham TV interview through a translator.
“It will be a matter of time, there is no problem, my English teacher will be arriving on 1 September, and I will hope to be speaking English soon!”
“The match was very smart tactically, there was a lot of heart and passion in all of the players, and all of them gave 100 per cent,” he said. “They all gave everything they had, for example, I saw Mauro, going back and marking, so everyone gave their very best, and that is what led us to victory over Arsenal.
“I’m very happy for Reece because this has happened to me before as well, as a youngster, and sometimes the misfortune for someone brings an opportunity for another, and he did exactly what he had to do.
“He performed very well, had a very good match, it was not easy to play on that pitch, against a club like Arsenal, and he is definitely going to be a player with a bright future, and might give me some difficulties to get into the squad in the future.”
Now he is fit and ready to play, Obiang’s next challenge is to learn English, as he conducted his latest West Ham TV interview through a translator.
“It will be a matter of time, there is no problem, my English teacher will be arriving on 1 September, and I will hope to be speaking English soon!”