David Moyes could be forced to hand a daunting West Ham debut to a young pup at Man United amid the Lukasz Fabianski uncertainty.
West Ham have endured some real injury problems of late.
But a new blow to number one goalkeeper Fabianski creates a myriad of potential problems for Moyes and the Hammers.
West Ham head to face Manchester United in the FA Cup and Moyes has confirmed Fabianski will be missing having fractured his eye socket in the win over Forest at the weekend.
Alphonse Areola replaced Fabianski in the game and pulled off a superb save.
Many West Ham fans have been clamouring for Areola to replace Fabianski as number one this season – even though the former Poland star rarely puts a glove or foot wrong.
Areola would have played against Man United anyway as West Ham’s cup and European option.
And therein sits a massive dilemma for Moyes.
Fabianski could be out for some time with his injury, which Moyes has confirmed could require surgery.
Should that be the course of action then it would most likely rule him out for the last two and a half months of the season.
So Areola – who himself suffered a hamstring injury recently – would surely need to be protected for crucial Premier League and European games.
Having sold third choice goalkeeper Darren Randolph to Bournemouth last month, Moyes only has untested young duo Krisztián Hegyi and Joseph Anang as back-up.
Notably both youngsters were on the bench for West Ham’s recent 1-1 draws with Newcastle and Chelsea when Areola was missing.
So Moyes could be forced to hand a daunting West Ham debut to a young pup at Man United amid the Fabianski uncertainty.
Anang is the elder of the two young ‘keepers but is still only 22. Hungarian Hegyi is just 20.
It would be some story for either of the academy graduates.
Should Moyes decide against throwing either of them in at the deep end and plays Areola then it could be deemed a major risk with uncertainty over Fabianski.
Imagine the scenario, Areola picks up an injury and Fabianski is out medium to long term and suddenly West Ham have two completely untested goalkeepers as their number one and number two while the club battles for Premier League survival.
Stranger things have happened.
Should Hegyi or Anang get their debut then, who knows, it could be the making of them. We’ll certainly all be behind them.
But it is a worrying situation and presents Moyes with a new headache in light of the Randolph sale.
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