West Ham’s List Of Replacements For Jussi Jaaskelainen

 

With West Ham goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen being very ‘hit and miss’ in his first season at West Ham and with age not being on his side, do the Hammers need a new keeper? Would you like to see Jussi still be first choice next season?

If I am to be honest I was never keen on Jussi when he first signed at the start of the season. I thought Jussi had seen better days and was on the decline as a keeper with his former club Bolton being relegated. I have thought of five goalkeepers that I would like to see West Ham try for during the summer so West Ham has a new No1.

So here we go these are my five –

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• Maarten Stekelenburg – The Dutch international keeper had been linked with West Ham and Fulham during the January transfer window. Stekelenburg is undoubtedly a world class keeper, but has fallen out of favour at AS Rome and he is there for the taking and I believe we could get Stekelenburg for a reasonable price. Stekelenburg is a product of Ajax’s youth system and followed in the footsteps of Dutch goalkeeping legend Edwin Van Der Sar. Although at 30 he is not the youngest of keepers he would still be a fantastic signing.
• Costel Pantilimon – Well the rumours doing the rounds is that West Ham are already in talks with Man City about signing Pantilimon whether or not this is true is another thing. Since signing for Man City Pantilimon has not only become the tallest keeper but also the tallest player in the Premier League standing at 6ft 8inch. He has also had his fair share of the limelight within the Romanian setup and at the age of 26 he has plenty of miles still left in the tank.
• Kasper Schmeichel – Kasper is a keeper I have liked since he burst on to the scene at Man City. He has been around the block a bit for a young keeper but his talent is unquestionable and he is really starting to show what he is all about and even earning his first call up to the Denmark team. At 26, again he has experience, he may cost a handful but in my eyes it would be fully worth it.

 

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• Brad Guzan – This may be a surprise for some West Ham fans but Guzan is a keeper I really like. He is a fantastic shot stopper and his performances this season haven’t been matched by the rest of the Aston Villa team. With uncertainty at Aston Villa and their future in the Premier League, Guzan may be persuaded to make a move to London. At 28 he is coming into his prime and being the US No1 keeper he will want to play at a higher level than what Aston Villa is.
• John Ruddy – A keeper that has been plagued by injury this season but one thing that remains is that Ruddy is a top keeper that was breaking into the England set up. I do feel that Norwich City would demand a high transfer fee that would inevitably put West Ham off, but this is a keeper that I know I would like to see and I am sure a lot of other West Ham fans would like to see at the club. At 26 he is a young English keeper that has tonnes of ability.

These are my five that I would like to see between the sticks at West Ham but I would love to hear who everyone else would like to see as West Ham first choice keeper.

Carl Bateson

Follow me on Twitter @BatesonCarl

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