West Ham have two great ‘keepers at their disposal, current first choice Darren Randolph who regularly features for the Republic of Ireland and Adrian who is perhaps my favourite West Ham ‘keeper in what feels like a very, very long time.
Both are at the age now of 29 and 30 respectively, which is not old for a keeper by any means, but with our third string ‘keeper Raphael Spiegel at the age of 24, I just cannot see him breaking into the first-team with some of his performances. Randolph’s performances haven’t been up to scratch lately also, keeping just one clean sheet since January, which is why I do think it is time now for Adrian to return, but maybe we should look forward into the future?
An excellent young keeper is Alban Lafont, currently playing for Toulouse and at the age of just 18 is regularly featuring for their first-team. I do not doubt that many top clubs will be vying for his signature, but if the board are going to be keeping their promises of bringing in quality talent and pushing for European places, a place we could start is in the keeper position.
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Many teams are playing more youthful keepers now, with the likes of Gianluigi Donnarumma, Jordan Pickford, Jack Butland, Mattia Perin and Jan Oblak all playing for their first teams and being 24 and under, it would seem very wise to attain a young keeper as they usually play a lot longer than their outfield compatriots. Even another young keeper, Simone Scuffet, who is 20-years-old and was touted to be the man who would take Italian legend Buffon’s mantle as number one for Italy, could be a great alternative. Maybe something for West Ham to ponder in the future?
