Photo by Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Photo by Gongora/NurPhoto via Getty Images
While it would be a stretch to suggest the fates of West Ham United and FC Barcelona are intertwined this summer, the Premier League outfit and the La Liga champions are certainly doing each other a few favours.
Jean-Clair Todibo became a permanent West Ham player last week, the London Stadium outfit triggering the £32 million purchase clause in his contract.
As part of that arrangement, £6 million made its way into the pockets of La Blaugrana. Barcelona had the good sense to include a sell-on clause when selling Todibo, who made only four La Liga appearances between 2019 and 2021, to OGC Nice.
Now, it may be Barcelona’s turn to return the favour.
If West Ham United are open to offers for Alphonse Areola this summer – presumably they are, given the Frenchman’s struggles under Graham Potter and that interest in Aaron Ramsdale – their red-and-blue friends from over in Catalonia may be about to knock down the first domino.
Goalkeeper Alphonse Areola in action during Wolverhampton Wanderers FC v West Ham United FC in the Premier League
Photo by James Gill – Danehouse/Getty Images
Barcelona’s Joan Garcia deal could help West Ham United shift Alphonse Areola
Espanyol reportedly want to bring Areola back to Spain this summer.
Formerly of Real Madrid and Villarreal, Barcelona’s Catalan neighbours placed the West Ham number one high on their list of potential Joan Garcia replacements, per Football Transfers.
This, by the way, is a pursuit which should speed up as Barcelona agree a deal to take Joan Garcia fifteen miles north from the RCDE Stadium to the Camp Nou.
🚨🔵🔴 BREAKING: Joan García to Barcelona, here we go! Documents are now in place with Spanish GK.
Release clause to be paid in the next days, could happen next week but all contracts are now ready.
Joan García will sign a five year deal at Barça, all set. pic.twitter.com/celkuAf5vS
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) June 10, 2025
According to Mundo Deportivo, Joan Garcia will officially become a Barcelona player in the coming days. An announcement will be made once Espanyol receive the payment of the goalkeeper’s £21 million release clause.
In the meantime, Joan Garcia’s exit opens the door for Alphonse Areola to step into his shoes and inherit his gloves.
Despite being nominated for the Premier League’s Save of the Season award, Areola had become a ‘glaring weak spot’ between the sticks for West Ham.
Graham Potter would ideally like a goalkeeper as comfortable with the ball at his feet as he is with it in his hands. Concerns over Areola’s distribution were only exacerbated when the one-time Paris Saint-Germain man gifted the opener to Morgan Gibbs-White with a neat little bow and a dreadfully misplaced pass during last month’s defeat by Nottingham Forest.
Aaron Ramsdale and Noah Atubolu among West Ham’s goalkeeper targets
Hammers News understands that Potter is an admirer of Aaron Ramsdale. West Ham have held initial discussions with the England international, available for £25 million following Southampton’s relegation.
“He was very good [at Arsenal]. He needs to be playing in the Premier League. I know for a fact he is more than good enough to play in the Premier League,” former top-flight hitman Darren Bent says while arguing that Ramsdale would be an upgrade on West Ham’s options from last season.
“You’ve got Areola, Wes Fotheringham, Lukasz Fabianski is 40 years old. I think ‘Rambo’ is better than all of those.”
Noah Atubolu of Freiburg is another glovesman under consideration.
Atubolu is open to swapping the Bundesliga for English football but a man with a remarkable penalty-saving record would be forgiven for embarking upon a Europa League charge with his current employers first.
West Ham have been urged to raid Leicester City, meanwhile, for a goalkeeper who stood out in extremely difficult circumstances at the King Power Stadium.
“Their goalkeeping situation is not very good. Fabianski is finished. Areola is okay, but I don’t think he is skilled enough to be an extraordinary first-choice goalkeeper,” former Denmark international Peter Kjaer tells Tipsbladet while recommending Mads Hermansen to the Hammers.
“It’s a nice place, located in London and it’s a club that wants a little more. [West Ham] is a nice shelf for him. It’s an upgrade and for a club that wants to be ambitious.