Finlay Herrick can make first-team claim at West Ham United after new announcement
West Ham academy goalkeeper Finlay Herrick has a chance to move up the pecking order after signing a new four-year contract.
The Irons confirmed on their website (23 October) that Herrick's new deal will keep him at the club until 2028, with the 18-year-old stopper also having the option of a further year.
Herrick has been on the Hammers' books since the age of six, and having kept three clean sheets in six Premier League 2 appearances for their Under-21s side this season will be keen to make the step up.
With a whopping 13 years between Herrick and the youngest of the three goalkeepers currently in Julen Lopetegui's first-team ranks, the starlet will be confident he can stir things up shortly.
Finlay Herrick can put West Ham United goalkeepers on notice
All three of Lopetegui's first-team goalkeepers are well into their thirties, and with none of Alphonse Areola, Lukasz Fabianski or Wes Foderingham in a rich vein of form, attention could turn Herrick's way eventually.
Areola, at 31, is the youngest of the trio and has become the clear first-choice in recent seasons, but the Frenchman has come under fire of late for failing to adequately command his 18-yard box.
Furthermore, 39-year-old Lukasz Fabianski is a player coming towards the end of his long career in claret and blue, which could facilitate a spot in the goalkeeping ranks opening up soon.
Wes Foderingham, a free transfer from Sheffield United signed to be third-choice at the age of 33, is arguably the player whom Herrick will see as the most vulnerable to leapfrog in the pecking order.
A lack of dynamism among his outfield players is one of the biggest criticisms thrown at Lopetegui during his time in East London so far, but that's not the only department in need of an injection of youth.