Paris Saint-Germain are ready to sell Alphonse Areola and Fulham are confident that they will beat Premier League high-flyers West Ham United to the goalkeeper’s signature, as reported by TEAMtalk.
Is there a better second-choice ‘keeper in England’s top flight?
Bernd Leno, Dean Henderson and Robin Olsen may throw their respective hats into this particular ring. But, in Areola, David Moyes has a France international, a four-time Ligue 1 champion and World Cup winner sitting on the bench.
A man who, during a loan spell at Craven Cottage in 2020/21, established himself as one of the division’s most reliable shot-stoppers, even for a side who’s defence often left a lot to be desired.
It will come as no surprise to learn that Fulham would welcome Areola back with open arms at Craven Cottage.
Marco Silva’s side are eight points clear at the top of the Championship and, barring a collapse of unprecedented proportions, will be a top-flight side again in 2022/23.
But if Fulham are to avoid enhancing their ‘yo-yo reputation’, bringing Areola back to the club where he played some of the best football of his career would be a major step in the right direction.
Is Alphonse Areola leaving West Ham United for Fulham?
TEAMtalk adds that Fulham are ‘confident’ of sealing a deal for the one-time Villarreal loanee.
PSG certainly won’t stand in Areola’s way, with just over 12 months left on his contract. What’s more, Les Parisiens have two of the finest glovesmen on the planet competing for a place in Mauricio Pochettino’s XI; Gianluigi Donnarumma and the always-underrated Keylor Navas.
West Ham have a £10 million option-to-buy clause in Areola’s contract.
But reports suggesting that the Hammers are weighing up summer moves for West Brom’s Sam Johnstone and Mechelen ace Gaetan Coucke suggest that Moyes may be planning for life without Areola at the London Stadium (Het Nieuwsblad).
The Frenchman has played just one Premier League game in West Ham colours. And that came when Lukasz Fabianski was ruled out of a trip to Manchester United in January.
He has proven to be a highly-reliable last line of defence whenever called upon in cup competitions however. That remarkable reflex save against Sevilla in the Europa League last month has to be seen to be believed.
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“Alphonse knows Lukasz is number one at the minute but he’s great around the boys, he doesn’t sulk, he comes in and he’s been fantastic in the Europa League games that he’s played and fantastic in the Carabao Cup games,” captain Mark Noble said after that EFL Cup victory over Manchester City.
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