The goalkeeper market is one to keep a keen eye on at West Ham this summer. And Manchester United could be the ones to open the door for a new shot-stopper to arrive in East London.
While there has been little movement surrounding Alphonse Areola so far, the Frenchman’s reported £120,000-a-week wages – plus the fact Nuno Espirito Santo prefers Mads Hermansen – means a departure cannot be ruled out.
For the second summer in succession, meanwhile, Hull City’s Ivor Pandur has been mentioned as a potential replacement for the veteran ex-Real Madrid and PSG glovesman.
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Pandur was reportedly one of the names West Ham United considered before forking over £20 million to Leicester City for Hermansen. Sky Sports claimed that ‘concrete talks’ had taken place in 2025.
Nearly twelve months on, Italian publication Tuttomercatoweb report that West Ham’s interest in the former Hellas Verona goalkeeper remains very much alive.
And whether or not Pandur ends up in East London could be impacted by the moves at Manchester United.
West Ham like Hull City goalkeeper Ivor Pandur
According to the Daily Mail, newly-promoted Hull City are keen to sign Radek Vitek from Old Trafford.
Vitek was outstanding during a loan spell at Bristol City last season. But with Senne Lammens nailing down the number one jersey, the £10 million-rated Vitek is keen to leave in order to avoid a season stuck on the Old Trafford bench.
Hull are keen, having already made enquiries for Bayern Munich’s Alexander Nubel and Lukas Hornicek of Braga.
There would be shades of Sunderland if Hull were to replace Pandur – who played 44 out of 46 Championship games last season plus all three play-off matches – with Vitek. Sunderland sold or replaced a whole host of the players who led them to promotion, feeling that upgrades were required in order to thrive in the Premier League.
Given that Regis Le Bris’ Black Cats finished in the European places, the summer of 2025 was a market extremely well negotiated.
It appears that Hull may look to do the same, with Pandur a potential victim of his own success.
Pandur is an ‘outstanding shot-stopper’ with a fine penalty record
Part of Croatia’s World Cup squad across the Atlantic, Pandur was named Hull’s Player of the Year during his first season on Humberside.
Surprisingly, The Tigers conceded the most goals in the entire top half of the Championship in 2025/26 but Pandur – to his credit – boasted the fourth-best ‘expected goals prevented’ percentage across the league.
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The 25-year-old is also something of a spot-kick specialist. He saved two of the five penalties he faced under highly-rated head coach Sergej Jakirovic.
“Ivor is a player with really good pedigree,” Jakirovic’s predecessor, Liam Rosenior, told BBC Sport during their time together on Humberside.
“He’s got a lot of potential and many qualities. He’s an outstanding shot-stopper with agility and plays with personality.”
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