West Ham Opinion: Willy Caballero can save the Hammers some valuable funds
According to London Evening Standard, West Ham are looking to sign out-of-contract Chelsea goalkeeper Willy Caballero on a free transfer in the summer window, as the Hammers continue their search for an understudy to Lukasz Fabianski.
Evening Standard claims that Caballero is unlikely to be handed a new contract at Stamford Bridge and Hammers boss Manuel Pellegrini is keen to reunite with his former player, having worked with the Argentinian international at Malaga and Man City earlier in his managerial career.
Spanish veteran Adrian is out of contract in the summer and is set for an exit from the London Stadium after making 150 appearances for the Hammers in all competitions.
Adrian played the role of back-up for Fabianski to perfection, making 5 appearances for the east Londoners in the domestic cup competitions, but his departure is going to leave a massive void in the goalkeeping department.
West Ham have a highly-rated goalkeeper by the name of Nathan Trott in their academy but the 20-year-old could be sent out on loan to gain more experience before competing for the No.1 role at the club.
Lukasz Fabianski did a tremendous job for the Hammers between the sticks this past season following his £7 million move from Swansea City last summer. The 34-year-old managed 7 clean sheets across 38 appearances in the Premier League and few would argue that the Polish veteran was one arguably one of the most reliable and consistent performers at the club.
Fabianski is likely to continue in the No.1 role for the next season or two but the Hammers cannot afford to embark on the upcoming campaign with just one senior shot-stopper in their ranks.
Polish U21 shot-stopper Bartlomiej Dragowski (h/t Tuttomercatoweb) and Cardiff City’s Neil Etheridge (h/t Wales Online) have been linked with moves to east London but Willy Caballero can save them a fortune in the transfer market.
Manuel Pellegrini was the man responsible for introducing Caballero to English football back in 2014 the Chilean, then in charge on Man City, signed him from his former club Malaga.
Caballero warmed the benches at Man City more often than not and made a total of 48 appearances for the Citizens in all competitions over the course of three years before joining Chelsea on a free transfer in 2017.
The 37-year-old has never really been looked upon as a good fit for the No.1 role in the Premier League and his time at Chelsea was more of the same, watching the action from the sidelines and playing the odd game in the domestic cup competitions.
He is very much at the twilight of his career and a backup role at West Ham won’t bother him too much.
Caballero, who featured for Argentina at the 2018 FIFA World Cup last summer, is not a world-beater by any means but he is a decent-enough shot-stopper and West Ham have every reason to look at him as their next No.2 between the sticks.
He won’t be a long-term fix but the Hammers have apparently made a habit of signing aged players in recent times and Caballero’s acquisition would save them the funds needed to bring in a top-quality replacement.
To Read More West Ham News, Click Here:– Latest West Ham News
West Ham need to reshuffle their squad this summer to get rid of the deadwood and accomodate fresh faces, meaning that the Hammers look set for another busy summer. Caballero would just be making up the numbers anyway, so it won’t be much of a gamble for the Hammers to sign him up for free.
