West Ham United manager David Moyes admits that goalkeeper Alphonse Areola now has the perfect opportunity to stake his claim as first-choice goalkeeper for both club and country.
Areola, in his second season at West Ham , spending last season on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, has played 31 times for the Hammers, 27 of which however have been outside of the Premier League.
The French stopper turned 30 earlier this week and despite only making three substitute appearances in the league this season, now has an opportunity to cement his place as the club’s first-choice goalkeeper following a fractured cheekbone and eye-socket injury sustained during Saturday’s win over Nottingham Forest.
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Areola was already set to take the place of his Polish counterpart Fabianski for Wednesday’s FA Cup fifth round trip to Manchester United, but with Fabianski potentially set for a lengthy spell of absence, Areola could well be about to replace the Polish stopper long-term, if he takes his chance.
Not only for his club, but internationally, a window of opportunity is opening up for Areola in the French national team, with Tottenham stopper and World Cup winning-captain Hugo Lloris retiring from international duty.
France return to international matches in a few weeks when they take on the Netherlands and Republic of Ireland in the qualification matches for Euro 2024.
Although Areola has only won five caps since first making the squad in October 2015, he has featured on France’s bench a further 58 times without coming on and played in both of France’s matches in September 2022 when Lloris was absent.
Moyes believes that for both club and country, Areola has a perfect chance to prove why he deserves the No.1 shirt for both West Ham and France.
“Yeah it is,” said Moyes when asked if Fabianski’s injury provides a big opportunity for Areola.
“I think if you look it's not only a big chance for Alphonse but the French national team, Lloris is retired so there's an opening when the international teams get called up in the next few weeks.
“It would give him a great chance to showcase himself and become France's number one.
West Ham signed Areola in a deal reportedly worth up to £11million including add-ons last summer, with a view to him taking the reins from Fabianski as first-choice in the Premier League long term.
However, Fabianski has started all 24 Premier League matches this season to date, with Fabianski featuring in 94% of the Premier League minutes available to him, with Areola taking the other 6% as a substitute against Manchester City, United and Forest.
Asked whether Areola has had to be patient, Moyes said that the plan long-term was to always bring in Areola over Fabianski, but the form of the veteran Polish stopper has meant that Areola has had to wait longer than expected.
“We told him eventually he will take over from Lukasz Fabianski,” explained Moyes.
“Let's be fair Lukasz Fabianski has played ever so well and if anything, experienced, steady, very reliable, very calm in his goalkeeping.
“He's gone on a bit longer, maybe we thought Phonse might have been there by now but it's more to do with how well Lukasz has played.
With Fabianski out and experienced third-choice goalkeeper Darren Randolph joining Bournemouth permanently last month, it does leave West Ham very short on experience after Fabianski and Areola.
Since Randolph’s departure, 22-year-old Joseph Anang has been the club’s third-choice stopper, while Hungarian academy prospect Krisztian Hegyi has also made the first-team bench on multiple occasions this season.
Anang spent the first half of the season on loan at League One side Derby County, but failed to play a single minute for the Rams’ first-team, missing most of his loan spell following a small arm fracture shortly after his arrival.
Moyes admits there is concern with the lack of back-up experience at the club in goal with Fabianski’s injury, warning about what happened with Newcastle United in last Sunday’s Carabao Cup final defeat to Man United.
With first-choice goalkeeper Nick Pope suspended and back-up option Martin Dubravka cup-tied, Newcastle were forced to start third choice goalkeeper Loris Karius for his Newcastle debut at Wembley Stadium, his first competitive match in two years.
“We’ve got a very good second goalkeeper, if you want to call it that,” Moyes told football.london. “I don’t call it second, I call it two first goalkeepers.
“I’m happy we’ve got Alphonse. But then, you’re starting to look behind that, and you’re beginning to say we’ve not got [much experience].
“You see what happened to Newcaslte and with respect, they have Karius who is a very experienced goalkeeper. We’ve probably not got that now as a third choice.”
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