West Ham United may keep hold of on-loan Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Alphonse Areola either win loan or permanently.
That’s according to The Athletic, who claim that West Ham may be keen to extend Areola’s stay in East London.
The Frenchman impressed against Sevilla on Thursday night and David Moyes may now be keen to keep him after all.
It was looking like Areola would be heading back to parent club PSG this summer.
Areola has started just one Premier League game this season and whilst he has been featuring prominently in the Europa League, it looked doubtful that West Ham would keep Areola just to sit behind Lukasz Fabianski.
That belief was only strengthened when The Sun claimed that West Ham have a deal advanced for West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Sam Johnstone.
Yet it’s now suggested that the Hammers have two clauses in the Areola deal that mean the 29-year-old could end up staying after all.
Firstly, West Ham can sign Areola permanently for a fee of £11million. That’s considerably more expensive than Johnstone, who is available on a free transfer.
Secondly, West Ham have the option to extend Areola’s loan by another season before committing to a permanent move.
Much will depend on what Areola wants, and you can imagine that he may want some first-team guarantees if he is to stay put at West Ham.
Fabianski turns 37 in April and the time may be right for Areola to take over and become first-choice goalkeeper moving forward.
Hailed as ‘fantastic’ by Mark Noble, it seems that Areola is highly regarded at West Ham and his Europa League displays have given him a shot at a deal.
This may come down to Johnstone or Areola with Moyes unlikely to sign both, and it may depend on just how much the Hammers to spend this summer.
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