West Ham United have to make tough goalkeeper decision for future of club
West Ham United were forced into a substitute against Manchester City as Lukasz Fabianski hobbled off injured at the London Stadium.
Summer signing Alphonse Areola came on but quickly gave away a penalty which Erling Haaland duly converted for the first of their two goals on the opening day.
Injury expert Ben Dinnery believes there is hope at Rush Green that the Polish international could be fit to take on Nottingham Forest at the weekend.
“David Moyes said it was in and around that hip area, that hip region and that sort of had a knock-on effect in terms of, he couldn’t really bend his leg, he couldn’t move it, he couldn’t feel it very well, so it was more of a dead leg,” he said on the Premier FPL Injuries YouTube show.
“So, maybe there was some kind of nerve damage in there, but like I say, it was hip region, so it could have possibly been that upper thigh.
“And if it is just a dead leg, then fingers crossed it’s not too severe, and that may give him an outside chance for next week.”
Moyes has trusted the 37-year-old for the majority of his time at the London Stadium but Fabianski is nearing the end of his career and the boss has to have an eye on the future now.
That future includes Areola as the number one and even though he was at fault for the penalty against Pep Guardiola’s side, he needs to get a regular run of games under his belt to prove that he is the man for the gloves.
He only seemed to play cup games last season which, while coming more frequently than expected, is not really enough for anyone to establish themselves and Moyes could save West Ham a lot of stress down the line by making the big decision to trust in the Frenchman.