West Ham appear to be on a position where they have to sign Alphonse Areola or risk not signing a new goalkeeper after Nick Pope edged closer to a move to Newcastle.
The England goalkeeper was undoubtedly a back-up target for the Irons if they could not reach an agreement to sign Areola permanently from PSG; the Irons have the option to buy him outright.
Pope is said to be nearing a move to Newcastle after the Magpies agreed a fee with Burnley to sign him; the Daily Telegraph reports the price is between £8m and £10m.
However, as we have reported, the option to buy Areola permanently expires at the end of the month so the Hammers really need to get a move on.
Boss David Moyes wants to sign a new goalkeeper with Lukasz Fabianski having signed for just a year and Darren Randolph and David Martin iet to leave.
His agent is smart he knows that and can play hardball, best thing would be if Newcastle sign Pope in the next 9 days as it will force the agents hand. Ultimately Areola is on a huge salary it’s unlikely he is going to accept less pay to sign isn’t it ?