West Ham United have free run at Alphonse Areola as Fulham find alternative goalkeeper
Alphonse Areola performed admirably when given the chance at West Ham in the 2021-22 season and he could remain at the London Stadium further.
As per Sky Sports Italy journalist Fabrizio Romano, via his personal Twitter account, the Irons are prepared to pay the French international’s £7.6million buy clause in the loan deal they agreed from Paris Saint-Germain last summer.
The 29-year-old has also been piquing the interest of Premier League newcomers Fulham, who he played for during the Cottagers’ relegation season of 2020-21 [Football League World].
That pursuit might be over now though as The Sun reported on Thursday 9 June that Marco Silva’s side have got much closer to finalising a deal for Lazio shot-stopper Thomas Strakosha on a free transfer.
Usually, Fulham signing a new goalkeeper would not be important news for us at West Ham but this effectively rules them out of making a move for Areola this summer which means David Moyes can take his time in deciding whether the trigger that clause.
It is rare to get such time in the modern-day transfer market with so many clubs often vying to sign the same players but we do now have that luxury with the Cottagers out of the race.
Having said that, Moyes can’t afford to wait until transfer deadline day before finally pulling the trigger because Areola won’t be that patient as to wait for the call from the Hammers.
He will go and find a new club if we stall for too long so considering how good he was in the Europa League run last season, we would be silly not to complete this deal because we won’t find a better keeper for anywhere near this cheap.
In other West Ham news, one of the midfielders Moyes has been tracking is reportedly open to signing a new deal at his current club.
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