Former West Ham striker believes Hammers should have signed £25 million star

West Ham are currently struggling to take more points in the Premier League and while their struggles in the attack are well known, they haven't had a great defensive solidity in the recent matches. In the previous three matches, the Hammers have conceded a total of nine goals and their last clean sheet this season came in a 1-0 win over Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup last month. Moreover improving the defence was one of the biggest priorities for West Ham throughout the transfer window and while they have completed the signings of a few quality defenders, they haven't been reliable while defending this season.

One of the biggest reasons has been manager Julen Lopetegui's lineup decisions that includes giving limited playing time to new signing Jean-Clair Todibo and his massive formation change against Chelsea. Alongside that, the performance of first choice goalkeeper Alphonse Areola hasn't been much convincing as the former Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper conceded two goals at his near post in the 5-1 defeat against Liverpool. Also, his distribution has also been underwhelming and West Ham have made several misplaced passes and defensive mistakes in the Premier League, that has led to the Hammers conceding a lot of goals despite assembling a decent defence this season.

Former West Ham striker believes Hammers should have signed £25 million star

Recently, former West Ham striker Tony Cottee has expressed his opinion about Areola, and while he highlighted that Areola has been a good signing for West Ham, Cottee discussed the need to sign a world-class goalkeeper such as Aaron Ramsdale at the club.

"Aaron Ramsdale has gone to Southampton, why didn’t we sign him. In my opinion, Areola is a good shot-stopper, but he doesn’t command the box and his distribution is not good enough. They need to change the keeper."

- Tony Cottee

The former Arsenal star joined Southampton in a £25 million transfer move and Cottee highlighted that the Hammers should have decided to add the 26-year-old England star to their squad in order to bolster their defence. While Ramsdale hasn't kept a clean-sheet at Southampton this season, he has been making a lot of impressive saves for them in every match. Now it remains to be seen whether West Ham will try to bring in a new goalkeeper at the club in the upcoming transfer windows.