With The Hammers’ and Chelsea’s Mohammed Kudus negotiations ‘ongoing’ and Arsenal entering talks at the weekend albeit at lower figures than West Ham would be prepared to accept, the likelihood of a deal being struck increases. Amongst the options thrown into the mix were – apparently – upto eight names of Chelsea players as part payment – none of which were of interest.
West Ham did enquire about goal keeper Robert Sanchez. This makes sense as Areola is struggling to play to Potter’s style. We know discussions have been ongoing with Aaron Ramsdale as a second front line keeper.
News today that Chelsea are looking at another ‘keeper from Europe would back up the consideration being given to adding Sanchez as a makeweight in any Kudus deal.
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Footballinsider247.com suggest that Chelsea are lining up Sanchez’ replacement:
“The Blues have now reportedly placed a bid worth €15million (£12.6m) for [ Mike Maignan], the 29 year-old’s signature and The Sun have since claimed that Maignan is set to become Maresca’s number one if he signs for the club.”
Which kind of leads Hammers fans into a keeper cul-de-sac with the unenviable choice of ‘the relegator’ Aaron Ramsdale or the accident prone Sanchez. It could be an excellent move for the Spaniard, however, and enable him to relaunch his career after struggling to impress at Stamford Bridge.
I suspect many fans are secretly hoping that the Hammers rekindle interest in SC Freiburg’s goalkeeper Noah Atobolu. But the Ramsdale or Sanchez deals are much more ‘West Ham’ in their potential to leave fans cold.