West Ham United insider @ExWHUemployee, also known as ‘Ex’, has been sharing his thoughts on the possibility of the east London club potentially making a move to sign Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Alphonse Areola this summer.
This comes after Ex co-hosted a recent episode of The West Ham Way Podcast where he spoke about a variety of topics concerning the club.
On the subject of West Ham’s reported interest in signing Areola, Ex had this to say on the matter. (45.52)
He said: “My understanding is that, yes, we’re interested in him.
“I reported that interest in April – made it very clear to West Ham fans that we were keen.
“However, why would we pay a large loan fee for him when he’s arguably going to be back-up to [Lukasz] Fabianski? Whether he’s not back-up to Fabianski, that Fabianski is going to be the back-up and he’s on a decent contract.
“Why would he necessarily want to come to West Ham and fight for his place, if we’re paying a lot of money for him, which I’ve heard, he could have quite a high loan fee.
“There are a few questions about what his intention would be to move, but I do think West Ham have some interest.”
As a product of PSG’s youth system, Areola has made a total of 107 appearances for the club across all competitions in which he has managed to keep 53 clean sheets (per Transfermarkt).
TIF Thoughts on Ex’s comments on West Ham’s interest in Areola…
Given how during his recent loan spell in the Premier League with Fulham, that only four players that started more than 10 league games registered a higher overall season rating than Areola according to WhoScored, it’s easy to see why West Ham have reportedly shown an interest in signing the shot-stopper this summer.
Do you think West Ham should sign Areola this summer?
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No
However, with Lukasz Fabianski signing a new deal at West Ham that will see him stay at The London Stadium until the end of next season, it does seem strange, in our view, as to why they would want to add Areola to the squad when they also have Darren Randolph and David Martin on their books as well.
But given how Areola is nevertheless on the books at one of the biggest clubs in Europe, for the Hammers to make moves to install him as their No 1 in place of their ageing goalkeepers appears to be a real signal of intent ahead of the new campaign.
In other news: ‘It might affect it’ – Insider reveals potential big Lingard stumbling block at West Ham