West Ham have option to sign Alphonse Areola on loan again next season – The Athletic
West Ham have the option to sign Alphonse Areola on loan for another year at the end of this season, or they can pay £11m to make it permanent according to The Athletic.
The French international has been a reliable understudy for Lukasz Fabianski this season and his performance against Sevilla in the Europa League has raised questions about his future.
With the player’s current loan deal set to expire at the end of the current season, journalist Roshane Thomas has revealed that the club have got different avenues they can go down to get a deal done to see him stay.
Despite being number two all season, the club are very happy with Areola and they could be keen to activate an option worth around £11m to make the deal permanent.
Alternatively they could extend the loan by an extra year, which could make financial sense with Fabianski being seven years older and only renewing his contract by an extra year until the end of next season.
Future number one?
There’s a possibility that West Ham try to keep Areola in the squad on loan for next season with the intention of making him the number one once Fabianski’s level drops or he decides to call it a day.
The Polish stopper has been excellent this season and Moyes has been very clear that he is the number one at the club, but whenever Areola has been called upon he’s been reliable and played well.
With an extra year on loan it helps financially before getting money together to bring him in permanently and would make a smooth transition between the sticks for when Fabianski is done.
It would be a good bit of forward planning for the club and would save a good portion of their budget for the summer, with plenty of other areas needing strengthening.
Areola has plenty of top level experience having played for Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid and France and clearly fits in well with the squad, so it’s certainly a good move for all parties.
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