There is now only one way Hammers boss David Moyes can keep Alphonse Areola at West Ham after new development.
Ask any West Ham fan one of the first pieces of business they want to see the club do this summer and the name Alphonse Areola will be chief among them.
Areola, on loan from PSG, has played a massive part in West Ham making it to the Europa League semi-finals.
The France international had a big hand – quite literally – in the most pivotal moment of the entire tie against Sevilla when produced that save to keep out Youssef En-Nesyri from point blank range with West Ham scrapping to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first leg.
Areola has been seriously impressive when called upon for West Ham in the Europa League and cups this season.
He made another brilliant save in Lyon to stop the hosts getting any ideas as West Ham sat on their lead last week.
The 29-year-old has been forced to play understudy to number one Lukasz Fabianski for Premier League matches, though.
Fabianski, who turned 37 yesterday, has been one of the best and most reliable goalkeepers of West Ham’s modern era.
So much so Moyes has rewarded the former Poland star with a new one-year deal which will take him past his 38th birthday.
But Fabianski, while not making any glaring errors, has seen his place as number one questioned after some of his performances in the Premier League.
Fabianski is a very steady ‘keeper who does all the basics extremely well and on a consistent basis.
For a goalkeeper there is a lot to be said for that. So it is easy to see why Moyes opts for his proven reliability.
But Fabianski’s reactions, speed around the goal – and off his line – and kicking are not on a par with Areola.
Fabianski has also started to punch a lot more when under pressure, a potential sign he is not as confident as he once was.
Those factors were evident in the costly 1-1 draw against Burnley. It was a result that could have been worse after Fabianski felled Maxwell Cornet for a Burnley penalty only for the Clarets star to put it wide from the spot.
Hammers fans are desperate to see Areola signed permanently and West Ham confirmed they have first option on the ‘keeper when he joined last July.
Indeed Moyes himself has made it clear he wants to sign Areola permanently.
Opinion: Now only one way David Moyes can keep Alphonse Areola at West Ham after new development
The Hammers were boosted last week when PSG made it clear Areola has no future at the club.
At 29, Areola could be West Ham’s number one goalkeeper for the next five or six years.
But many West Ham fans feel Areola should already be the number one.
And it seems there is now only one way Moyes can keep Areola at West Ham beyond this summer after a new development this week.
Moyes simply must make Areola West Ham’s number one for the rest of the season.
There was a new development over Areola’s future this week when Fulham sealed their promotion back to the Premier League.
According to the likes of 90Min and Football League World Moyes’s hopes of signing the France international on a permanent basis could be scuppered by interest from Areola’s former loan club Fulham.
Given that Moyes has made it clear this season that Areola is number two, it could be seriously bad news for West Ham’s hopes of keeping the 29-year-old at the club long term.
If West Ham do want to keep Areola and Fulham do make a move to bring back their former player of the year, then Areola may well choose the Cottagers where he knows he will be number one.
So there is now only one way Moyes can realistically hope to hold on to the 6ft 5in colossus after Fulham’s promotion – make him the number one.
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