Chelsea are being linked with a shock move to sign West Ham United goalkeeper Alphonse Areola in January.
West Ham ace Alphonse Areola is reportedly firmly on the Chelsea radar ahead of the January transfer window, after some impressive showings this season since being made the number one goalkeeper at the London Stadium.
The 30-year-old joined the Hammers from Paris Saint-Germain initially on loan in the summer of 2021, before his move was made permanent the following summer for around £7.8 million (The Daily Mail).
However, the France international has to wait until the start of this season before he usurped Lukasz Fabianski as the first choice Premier League goalkeeper.
David Moyes has played the long game with the 6ft 5in goalkeeper, and he has put in some strong performances for us this season. He’s not perfect though by any means.
In my opinion, there are plenty of goalkeepers out there who are better than Areola, so it would be a real surprise if Chelsea came in for him this winter…
Alphonse Areola to Chelsea claim emerges
Football journalist Dean Jones has told Give Me Sport, that a move to sign the Hammers stopper could appeal to Chelsea in January:
“The signs that I’ve had are that Arsenal would not loan Ramsdale to a rival, particularly someone like Chelsea and could Chelsea go and buy Aaron Ramsdale? I’m not so sure? There are a few other goalkeeper situations opening up around the Premier League that might become tempting. You look at Areola for example.”
Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez is currently out injured with a knee injury, so the fact that Mauricio Pochettino wants to sign some goalkeeping cover this winter is no surprise.
However, one of the keepers he apparently has in mind is somewhat of a shock.
I have to be honest, I don’t think Areola is that much better than Fabianski, if at all.
Certainly from a shot-stopping perspective he is, but what about commanding his area and communicating with his defenders? I really think Fab is superior in both of those categories.
I’m not even sure that the 30-year-old’s distribution is better than that of the Polish stopper. Listen, I think he’s been decent for the Hammers and has made some terrific saves in all fairness to him.
He’s just not the goalkeeper that I thought he was when we signed him unfortunately. And if Chelsea do try to sign Alphonse Areola in January, I would be hugely surprised.
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