Pellegrini reportedly wanted duo at West Ham last summer – now he has them both

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West Ham United have brought in goalkeeper Roberto.

West Ham United secured their first signing of the summer on Friday, bringing in goalkeeper Roberto from Espanyol on a free transfer.

Roberto, 33, worked with West Ham’s director of football Mario Husillos at Olympiakos, and it’s no great surprise to see him make the move to the London Stadium.

West Ham just released veteran goalkeeper Adrian, and Roberto has come in as his replacement after a year-long pursuit of the Spaniard.

AS reported last summer that Husillos and boss Manuel Pellegrini wanted to bring in Roberto to back up Lukasz Fabianski, but with Adrian staying, no move for Roberto materalised.

Now, one year on, West Ham have both Fabianski and Roberto in place, giving Pellegrini the experienced goalkeeping duo that he wanted all along.

That’s a great place for West Ham to be in, with Roberto clearly highly rated by the staff at the London Stadium, even though he played just six games for Espanyol this past season.

With David Martin coming in too, West Ham now have three veteran goalkeepers to pick from, allowing them to either loan out Nathan Trott or give him an experienced trio to help his development.

That’s a couple of smart moves by the Hammers, and Pellegrini will no doubt be delighted to have both the goalkeepers he wanted last summer on board now.