Alphonse Areola may be destined to remain West Ham United’s go-to goalkeeper for the remainder of the Premier League campaign but, beyond that, who the gloves belong to is anyone’s guess.
Mads Hermansen was keen to leave the Hammers on deadline day, having played only once since Graham Potter was fired in September.
West Ham United might have let him go, too, but Tottenham blocked Antonin Kinsky’s own move. As a result, two goalkeepers with just six appearances between them in 2025/26 look destined to spend the next few months gathering dust on the substitute’s bench.
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If Hermansen is not viewed as a key part of the club’s plans – Hammers News can confirm the former Leicester City man was made available as early as November – there are no guarantees regarding Alphonse Areola either.
The 32-year-old Frenchman has enjoyed a revival of sorts under Nuno Espirito Santo. But it is difficult to shake the feeling that, if the Hammers start another campaign with Areola between the sticks, this would feel like a dereliction of duty and a damning indictment of their squad-building.
Only time will tell if Finlay Herrick or Mason Terry are deemed ready to fight for a first-team spot as early as 2026/27. The latter, a 21-year-old who has spent over a decade in West Ham’s academy, has clearly outgrown reserve-team football. And if his parent club feel that more experience is needed, there will surely be plenty of Football League clubs willing to offer Terry that.
West Ham United starlet Mason Terry is thriving at Braintree Town
Dagenham & Redbridge v West Ham United - Pre-Season Friendly
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The Canvey Island-born Terry is currently on loan at Braintree Town in the National League. The Essex-based outfit are only three places off the bottom but, as manager Steve Pitt tells Gazette News, life would be a whole lot worse without the cat-like reflexes of the West Ham kid.
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In a week when Anatoliy Trubin powered Benfica into the knockout rounds of the Champions League, Terry channelled his inner-goal poacher as well. Up for a corner in the dying embers of a National League Cup quarter-final clash against Truro City, Terry scrambled in an equaliser from point-blank range.
He followed that up with what Pitt called a ‘match-winning performance’ as Braintree edged out Eastleigh on Saturday.
“It really reflects the point in his career that Mason is at. It was a match-winning performance when it mattered,” Pitt says. “He’s got everything in his locker, without a shadow of a doubt. He’s a really, really good prospect.”
A League Two club tried to sign Terry in the January transfer window
Terry made ten saves as relegation-threatened Braintree picked up a rare win, including one fine stop to keep out a long-range volley.
Pitt confirms that Terry came within touching distance of joining an unnamed League Two club during the winter window, too. This is unlikely to be the last time he attracts attention from clubs higher up the pyramid.
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He looks pretty special, doesn't he…
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“Mason was within minutes of leaving us this week for an EFL club,” Pitt reveals. “The deal was done and what have you. Unfortunately, that club’s keeper’s move in an upward trajectory himself broke down on personal terms.
“Late Tuesday night, the deal’s done and Mason was off but that’s testament really with the performance that you’ve seen [against Eastleigh] as to why that League Two club came in for him and why he would have moved.
“He’s a good young man.
“He should have been playing away in the League Two but he’s got over that disappointment and just knuckled down and got on with it.
“He’ll get his move. It was within his grasp but, if he carries on the way that he is and he will do, he’ll get his move, without a shadow of a doubt.”
Fellow goalkeeping protege Finlay Herrick has been in ‘outstanding’ form himself this season. Herrick earned a first England Under-21 call-up during a brief but highly-impressive loan spell at Boreham Wood.
Former Manchester United prospect Tom Wooster was West Ham’s hero late on in Monday’s 3-3 Premier League 2 draw with Middlesbrough, meanwhile, on a night when Venezuela international Keiber Lamadrid opened his account in claret and blue.
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