West Ham will have to pay Cardiff City £10 million for goalkeeper Neil Etheridge this summer, according to Football Insider.
The 29-year-old has been in fine form for the Bluebirds this season, and came second only to Hammers stopper Lukasz Fabianski in terms of number of saves made in the Premier League during the course of the Cardiff’s relegation campaign.
Football Insider reported earlier in the week that the Irons were monitoring the stopper, and now suggest that the Welsh club will ask for a fee in the region of £10 million this summer, with no pressure to sell him on.
Good move for West Ham?
In truth, this seems like a bit of an unnecessary expense. Fabianski has been exemplary this year for the Hammers, and to many, was the best goalkeeper outside of the top two. Granted, the Pole is 34 now, but he still has a decent year or two in him, and by the time he retires, Etheridge himself will be in his 30s. That’s not to say that the Cardiff keeper would be a bad signing, but certainly you could argue that the money would be better spent elsewhere.
This is Futbol rating: 6/10
Likely to happen?
The interest would seem to be pretty strong at this stage, but how much of that is actual interest and how much is just hype remains to be seen. What you would say is that were this deal to come off, there wouldn’t be too many raised eyebrows at all. Etheridge has proven that he is Premier League quality, and of it’s not the Hammers who make a move this summer, then you would assume that another team somewhere in the top division will. Predominantly, things depend on how Manuel Pellegrini views Fabianski going forward. Either way, West Ham will have a top notch goalkeeper next season.
This is Futbol rating: 8/10