Areola to consider options at West Ham as Fabianski agrees new contract
Alphonse Areola is considering his options at West Ham after Lukasz Fabianski agreed a new deal at the London Stadium, according to Claret & Hugh.
The Hammers news website reports that Fabianski, 36, has agreed a one-year contract extension, which keeps him at the club until the end of next season.
David Moyes signed Areola, 28, on a loan-to-buy deal from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer but he’s been kept on the bench by Fabianski in all Premier League games this season.
Claret & Hugh reports that Areola was signed with the view to him eventually replacing Fabianski as the new number one at the London Stadium but the Pole’s new deal throws that into doubt.
And now, it is understood that Areola is “considering his position” and has “a decision to make”.
Crunch time
Areola must be a bit baffled by this.
It’s not really a shock that Fabianski has kept the number one spot this season but we all assumed the 36-year-old would be moving on this summer.
Fabianski’s still a great goalkeeper and it’s not worth giving up on him.
But by offering him a new deal, it may alienate Areola and the French goalkeeper might not be happy to spend another season sitting on our bench in the Premier League.
From what we’ve seen from Areola in the domestic cup competitions and in the Europa League, he can be a very good goalkeeper for us.
But he’s 28-years-old and approaching the peak of his career. There’s no way he’ll be happy sitting on our bench.
We cannot blame Areola if he decides against a permanent move to the London Stadium and stays at PSG or heads elsewhere.
He deserves a spot but at the end of the day, you cannot overlook Fabianski when he’s doing well and has been such a great servant at the club.
It’s also on West Ham to make a decision too because Areola is reportedly earning £110,000-a-week on his deal at PSG [Le10Sport].
Should we be paying that much money for a back-up player? Absolutely not.
In other West Ham news, Simon Jordan blasted Jim White’s sources after a major Hammers story was broken on talkSPORT.
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