West Ham United stance on Alphonse Areola exit shared after Al-Ittihad transfer update
West Ham United are reluctant to sanction Alphonse Areola’s exit after he was shortlisted as a target by Al-Ittihad, according to TEAMtalk.
The outlet reported on its website on Tuesday (23 July) that the French stopper is being targeted by the Saudi club as a potential alternative to Ederson who Manchester City value in the region of £42.1million
Unless the Premier League champions lower that asking price, Al-Ittihad are unlikely to be able to reach a deal and would therefore consider alternatives such as Areola, Jan Oblak and Real Madrid keeper Andriy Lunin.
Areola’s contract at the London Stadium runs until the summer of 2027 and therefore a sizeable fee would be required to prize him away from Julen Lopetegui’s side this summer.
Will Alphonse Areola exit West Ham United amid Al-Ittihad transfer speculation?
While this summer was always going to be one of transition at the London Stadium, Lopetegui will not be keen to lose his first-choice keeper this close to the start of his first season as West Ham manager.
Areola was arguably one of the Hammers’ best players last season as he consistently produced performances that kept the Irons in games week in and week out, even when things got difficult under David Moyes.
Although Lukasz Fabianski is a more than able deputy and Wes Foderingham has been signed to act as a backup, neither keeper is anywhere near the level of Areola. It would be a massive step backwards if the Irons were to lose the Frenchman.
Should Al-Ittihad be willing to pay a huge transfer fee, maybe then Tim Steidten and Lopetegui would be able to sanction his departure. But if the Saudi club aren’t willing to pay for Ederson, they’re unlikely to be willing to negotiate.
Hopefully, West Ham will manage to keep the former PSG man in East London this summer as it would take a lot of money to sign another keeper of his level.
In other West Ham news, Southampton have made a new decision around Kyle Walker-Peters amid interest from the Hammers
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