Boring they are not. The specific band of new, young, swashbuckling shot-stoppers that play with their feet as well as their hands. Life is never dull with a daredevil ‘sweeper-keeper’ as they are now labelled and sometimes their twinkletoed footwork can go disastrously wrong: Just ask Chelsea fans about some of Kepa Arrizabalaga’s dribbled disasters.
From the scouting notes regarding one goalkeeper currently on West Ham’s radar, the dull times at London Stadium would be banished forever if Graham Potter decides to sign this Serbian shot stopper.
Metro.co.uk yesterday linked West Ham with Roma goalkeeper Mile Svilar, suggesting that he:
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“has been linked with a string of Premier League clubs, with Chelsea, West Ham and Bournemouth all interested in signing him this summer”
Still young for a top quality keeper at 25, the background research on his style of play shows that he is something of a thrill seeker. Not necessarily an ideal trait in a Premier League keeper!
According to thefootballmisfitscout.com, his style of play when younger was described thus:
“A young sweeper keeper who anticipates danger very quickly and effectively. Mile Svilar is the type of keeper who gives the traditional football fan butterflies in the stomach because he plays right on the edge and does take every opportunity to come out of the box to scuffle an attack from the opposition. “
A decent price for a high quality goal keeper, he may well be seen as the future if West Ham decide to buy-in a competitor for Areola’s jersey in the summer. West Ham do have their own young talent in development but none yet ‘oven-ready’ for a Premier League start. Svilar would be a reasonable buy unless the reported interest from Bayern Munich also materialises in which case he may well rocket to a price above West Ham’s summer budget.
Just don’t take your eyes off him if he does come- there’ll be never a dull moment with every back pass keeping us on the edge of our seats.