West Ham United star Alphonse Areola set to be axed after new development
West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola is expected to be dropped from the France squad for the upcoming games, according to Le Parisien.
Get Football News France, on 6 November, quoted and translated the French news outlet’s article, which claimed that Lille’s Lucas Chevalier is expected to come in place for the Hammers number one.
Areola has been third in Les Bleus’ pecking order behind Mike Maignan and Brice Samba but is now likely to fall a place further.
Alphonse Areola can work with the West Ham goalkeeping unit during the break
It has not been a very good season for the Irons thus far and the same can be said about their goalkeeper.
While the Frenchman has not been one of the club’s worst players and has had a few standout displays, there’s been nothing worth writing home about this campaign.
In eight Premier League games, he has conceded 14 goals and managed to keep just one clean sheet – which is poor given the high standards he’s set.
For the club, Areola not going anywhere during the international break would actually be a positive as they can use the extra days to work with him in training.
He could have special one-on-ones with the goalkeeping coaches and work on certain aspects of his game ahead of the festive period.
Julen Lopetegui and the Hammers fans will certainly want to see a more assertive presence inside the box and hopefully, he can rack up his clean sheet numbers too.
In other West Ham news, the Hammers want to sell an international player in January and have already identified a replacement for him.
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