West Ham United have officially completed their first signing of the summer, with goalkeeper Alphonse Areola joining the club on loan.
The Frenchman joins on a season-long loan with an option to buy.
Alphonse Areola Joins West Ham
Competition for Places?
The signing of Areola for West Ham signifies David Moyes’ ambition to strengthen ahead of their European campaign this season.
Although they already have Lukasz Fabianski as their first-choice goalkeeper, the Polish international is coming towards the end of his career. The 36-year-old is out of contract next summer, and the Hammers are preparing for his departure.
As a result, Areola will provide competition this season, and will allow West Ham to analyse him before deciding whether to sign him on a permanent deal.
Speaking recently to the Evening Standard, Moyes said he was keen to add more competition for his places to his squad.
“We need to get more competition, that’s the important thing if we want to keep the standards up,” he said.
“But I’ll tell you what we’ve got and that’s a great group of lads.
“I’m really lucky because we’ve got a group of lads who are right on it, foot to the metal all of the time so hopefully we keep that going.
“We’ll find out what we can do in the future but we’ve got no great update at all.”
The 28-year-old, who is now out of favour at current club Paris Saint-Germain, spent last season on loan in England’s top flight at Fulham.
Despite their relegation, Areola kept nine clean sheets in all competitions. He also made an average of 3.2 saves in the Premier League last season, the ninth-most in Premier League.
Areola’s displays for the Cottagers saw him win their 2020/21 Supporters’ Player of the Season.
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