West Ham coach David Moyes admits he can rotate goalkeepers Lukasz Fabianski and Alphonse Areola as the club prepares to tackle a hectic match schedule that includes a virgin bet on the Europa League.
The Hammers will take part in this season’s group stage competition after sealing a fantastic sixth place in the Premier League in 2020/21, ahead of London rivals Tottenham and Arsenal.
But despite qualifying for Europe, West Ham have not been able to strengthen their squad as they may have liked. Signing a new center-back and a striker is high on the priority list, and the club is actively working in the background with a number of deals for different goals.
So far, the only confirmed arrival has been goalkeeper Areola – who was a prominent player at Fulham last year – on a season-long loan from Ligue 1 giants PSG.
He will compete for Lukasz Fabianski – who is now 36 and recently retired from international service with Poland – and Areola’s loan deal also includes an option for West Ham to buy at the end of the season.
Fabianski got the nod on the opening day of the Premier League season, but when he spoke ahead of West Ham’s first home game of the season against Leicester, Moyes hinted that Areola will not be limited to a viewing time – especially now he is fast in training.
“I have two top goalkeepers and both are very competitive [with each other]”, Sa Moyes.” Currently Lukasz is here and Areola has just come in and is a little behind in the training process, but he is now ready to play and we have good competition.
“We talked the other day before the match on Sunday [the 4-2 win over Newcastle] and said that we have 31 matches before the turn of the year, so we have many matches where we have to look at Lukasz’s age and how many games he played.
Areola is likely to take over from Fabianski in the long run / Henry Browne / Getty Images
“He picked up a couple of injuries last year so I just felt I needed to get a real level of competition. Hopefully it keeps Lukasz on his toes and if we get injured or fall in shape I know I have someone who performed really well in the Premier League. League recently. “
Fabianski’s latest misery includes a hip problem he first suffered in Bournemouth back in September 2019. That question caused Poland to miss over three months of action and missed 17 matches along the way. He also missed three games last season due to injury.
Areola meanwhile started 36 of Fulham’s 38 Premier League matches in 2020/21, although he could not save the Cottagers from relegation despite putting in a number of top-flight deals.
