Report: West Ham interested in signing wantaway Barcelona keeper Neto
West Ham United are keen on signing Barcelona goalkeeper Neto who has been disgruntled with the lack of playing time at Camp Nou.
Per a report in Monday’s Mundo Deportivo, the Hammers are interested in the 31-year-old who wants to leave the Catalan side after joining them in the summer of 2019 for a reported £23m.
The player sees his destiny in the Premier League and is hoping to play in the English top flight sooner rather than later.
The Brazilian has gone on to make just eight league appearances for Barcelona, and despite signing as a backup goalkeeper, has been unhappy with the games he’s played for the Spanish giants.
The 90 minutes he played in Saturday’s game against SD Eibar are expected to be his last for Barcelona as he’s unlikely to stay put at Camp Nou beyond the summer.
This opens the door for West Ham who are in desperate need of goalkeeping reinforcements and are very likely to sign a shot stopper to offer backup and eventually take over the helm from Lukasz Fabianski.
Mundo have reported that Barcelona will be looking for 12m (10m) to part ways with the Brazilian – a fee that could West Ham reconsider given there are other options out there.
Steep for a backup
The market has been inflated in the last few years, so we’re going to have to pay over the top to rope in good players.
However, we’re not operating on a huge budget that we can afford to splurge on backups. Neto may have been a solid keeper when Barcelona signed him, but there are doubts whether he could be the right player to contest with Fabianski for a first-team berth.
Instead, signing someone like Sam Johnstone, who is three years younger than him and has experience of playing in the Premier League, would be a better buy for West Ham.
He has had a better season than Fabianski despite playing for a team that got relegated – showcasing his quality.
The reports linking us to him have been more credible than Neto, so we’re hoping that the club makes the right move and not sign a player that doesn’t offer too much on or off the pitch.
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