West Ham goalkeeper Roberto looks set to finally leave the club on a permanent basis with Spanish club Real Valladolid interested in his signature.
Last summer West Ham signed Spanish goalkeeper Roberto from Olympiacos as a free agent to play back-up to Lukasz Fabianski, but the transfer turned out to be a disaster. The clubs first choice, Fabianski, picket up a bad injury early in the season and was replaced by Roberto.
What would happen in the next two months was simply abysmal. The 33-year-old was inept at protecting the goal, he managed one clean sheet in ten games, but conceded twenty-one goals in the other nine games that he played. This included four goals against Oxford United, in the game it seemed like Roberto did not attempt to save a single shot.
During this period, West Ham’s good start to the season was in tatters as they dropped down the table. Manager Manuel Pellegrini eventually replaced Roberto with David Martin, who was signed as a training ground goalkeeper. But the change came too late and Pellegrini was sacked as manager and replaced with David Moyes.
Moyes stuck with Martin until January. The Scot sent Roberto out on loan to Spain and brought back former hammer Darren Randolph from Middlesborough to play until Fabianski was fit again.
For the rest of the season, Roberto was turning out for Deportivo Alavés. The goalkeeper made nine appearances and managed to better his record at West Ham by keeping two clean sheets. Roberto did still manage to concede over two goals a game on average as he let in nineteen during his loan.
Despite still having a poor record, Real Valladolid is interested in signing him and have had an offer accepted by the Hammers. Although that offer is not great, as it includes the Hammer’s having to continue to pay part of the keeper’s wages, while he plays for a different club.