Fornals offers Lopetegui West Ham insight

New West Ham boss Julen Lopetegui has spoken to Pablo Fornals to get some insight into what he can expect at London Stadium.

Fornals spent four-and-a-half years at West Ham, making 203 appearances for the club before joining Real Betis for £6.8m in February.

He still keeps in touch with many of his former team-mates, and Lopetegui used his knowledge once he discovered he would be replacing David Moyes in the summer.

"I was called by the new manager a few months ago - he just wanted to know about how West Ham works," Fornals told BBC Sport. "He is Spanish, I am Spanish and I had spoken with him a few times before, so he just wanted to know about the players.

"I am still connected with them so, to be honest, it is not a bad thing.

"I love them. I speak to them as many times as I can - the physios and the players - but they are not [just] players - they are my friends."

The burning question: what did he tell Lopetegui?

"That it is a nice club - a family club," he said. "There are a lot of very good people there. He asked me about the players, [but] that is his job. I try to help everyone."