It’s official – Areola signs

West Ham United sign goalkeeper Alphonse Areola

West Ham United is delighted to confirm Alphonse Areola has completed a permanent transfer from Paris Saint-Germain.

As ClaretandHugh had revealed a couple of days back the signing was set to be revealed within 72 hours and the Hammers have now made the announcement.

Areola joins the Hammers on a five-year contract until the summer of 2027, with a further one-year option, following a successful loan spell at London Stadium last season.

The 29-year-old played a starring role in West Ham’s run to the UEFA Europa League semi-finals, keeping five clean sheets, conceding just eight goals and making numerous important saves in his eleven appearances, and also featured in the Premier League, Emirates FA Cup and Carabao Cup.

Now, the France international is looking forward to continuing his career in east London on a permanent basis and linking up with his teammates again for pre-season training ahead of a 2022/23 campaign that will include the UEFA Europa Conference League and FIFA World Cup finals.

“I feel good, I feel great, I’m happy to sign and happy to stay here permanently and I can’t wait to start to train and to do the job,” said Areola.

“The main thing is that I felt the love of the supporters last season. Something for me that is really important is to feel that I’m loved. I know that I have to do my job and to do everything to make them happy, and obviously also the team, my teammates, the staff and Xavi Valero as well. The vibe of last season was great, so I just wanted to do everything to stay here.

“I feel comfortable, I feel like when I’m signing in a club, I want to feel that it’s like my second family. Obviously, we’re here every day and we are sharing lots of times together, so I have to feel comfortable with everyone and feel them comfortable with me as well, so I just feel comfortable here.”

The Paris-born goalkeeper became a firm favourite during his debut season in Claret and Blue, helping West Ham to memorable Carabao Cup victories over Manchester United – on debut – and Manchester City, earning the Player of the Round award after making seven saves in the latter.

The No13 made 29 saves in eleven ties, including a vital, spectacular one-handed stop to deny Sevilla’s Youssef En-Nesyri that paved the way for West Ham’s 2-0 round of 16 second-leg victory at London Stadium and earned him the Save of the Season award. 

Manager David Moyes welcomed the arrival of Areola, commenting: “Alphonse made a huge contribution to the Club during his loan spell last season. His performances backed up why we see him as a top goalkeeper.

“He brings proven quality and experience at the highest level, both on the domestic and international scene. We’re delighted he’s with us permanently and look forward to welcoming him back for pre-season.”

ClaretandHugh says: Top signing even though it may have taken a while longer than many including us expected. There was much talk of a move for Nick Pope but we understand that Alphonse was always the Moyes favourite and we can expect to see him starting to nail down the No 1 position next season. Lukasz Fabianski was a fabulous signing for the club and has been, and remains, a great keeper for us but the clock is ticking and Areola can now expect to be following in his footsteps very quickly.