Fabrizio Romano: West Ham now ‘in talks’ to seal major in-house agreement; deal is ‘closer’

According to transfer insider Fabrizio Romano, West Ham are now ‘increasingly confident’ that Alphonse Areola will sign a permanent contract at the London Stadium.

The Frenchman arrived in the Premier League when he joined the Irons on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain last summer, and hugely impressed between the sticks when given a run in the starting XI, which was mostly during the club’s multiple cup runs.

There was an option to buy included, and it sounds as though David Moyes is keen to retain his services for the new campaign and beyond after what he’s seen from the goalkeeper.

Taking to Twitter, Romano revealed that Areola’s move is now ‘getting closer’ to being completed as the club continue to hold talks. He wrote:

“West Ham are finally progressing in talks to sign Alphonse Areola on a permanent deal, agreement now getting closer – positive feelings on player side too.

“West Ham are increasingly confident as Areola deal will cost around €12m.”

With Nayef Aguerd already having put pen to paper with the Hammers, Areola is now likely to become Moyes’ second official signing of the summer, and it’s easy to see why the boss was desperate to keep hold of him.

Despite only making 15 appearances in goal across all competitions due to being the second-choice option to Lukasz Fabianski, the 29-year-old kept a total of eight clean sheets, as per Transfermarkt, highlighting that he rarely makes any mistakes when named in the starting line-up.

The 6 foot 3 powerhouse must have been given some kind of assurance that he’ll receive more game time if he committed himself to the club moving forward, but this is a hugely positive step in the right direction and one that sets West Ham up for a big few weeks of business.