Spaniard Fornals relished his recuperation period, given the hectic early months of the 2023/24 season which have seen the Irons compete domestically and in the UEFA Europa League.

With ten matches in all competitions for West Ham between this weekend and the end of the year, the midfielder wants to be in the best possible condition ahead of a busy run of fixtures.

“For me, personally, it has been a nice international break,” Fornals told whufc.com. “A lot of the lads have had a chance to rest and recuperate a bit, and a few of the boys have been away representing their countries too. Those of us who stayed had the chance to have a couple of days off, which were really nice.

“We’ve been playing loads of games in the early part of the season, with Europe too, and that’s a real positive because it shows how well we’ve been doing. But the chance to rest was good as well.

“Now we’re in a run from now until maybe mid-January where we’re playing a lot of matches, so I think a little break was really important to making sure we are ready for that.”