West Ham target Alphonse Areola wants to return to the London Stadium on a permanent deal
Alphonse Areola is reportedly keen to join West Ham on a permanent deal according to Italian website tuttomercatoweb.
The Italian website revealed on Thursday [26 May] that the Frenchman is keen to continue his journey at the London Stadium, with the Hammers yet to trigger the option to buy in his contract.
It is understood that agent Rafaela Pimenta will soon arrive in France to discuss Areola’s future.
The 29-year-old has enjoyed a successful loan spell at the London Stadium despite playing understudy to Łukasz Fabiański for the majority of the season.
Areola featured in all but one of West Ham’s Europa League matches and could well be the Irons’ number one if he returns next season.
Number one in the making
If Areola is keen then this should be a no brainer for West Ham and David Moyes.
Fabianski is coming to the end of his career and his mistake against Brighton perhaps highlighted his declining performance.
Areola has an immense amount of experience considering his relatively young age for a goalkeeper.
The 29-year-old has European pedigree having been at Real Madrid and PSG.
If Moyes makes a move for the Frenchmen then he could feasibly be the Hammers’ number one for the next five years.
Furthermore, his rumoured £10million buy-out clause is a bargain compared to some of the valuations of other goalkeepers.
It was reported by the Sun [21 May] that Burnley value Nick Pope at a whopping £40million.
The Hammers would be far better off investing in Areola and prioritising other areas of the pitch with larger transfer fees.
A move for Areola should kick start a large overhaul of players at the London Stadium with Moyes looking to turn the Hammers into regular top six contenders.
In other West Ham news, a key West Ham man has humiliated himself with a series of off the mark rants.
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