french association football player

Alphonse Francis Areola ( french : [ alfɔ̃s aʁeɔla ] ; [ 4 ] born 27 February 1993 ) is a french professional football player who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club West Ham United, on lend from Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain, and the France national team. An academy graduate of PSG, Areola spent the early parts of his career on loanword, enjoying spells with Lens, Bastia, and Villarreal. During his stretch with Villarreal, Areola broke the club record for the longest period of meet without conceding a finish, remaining unbeaten for a period of 620 minutes. He returned to PSG in 2016 where he has since made over 100 appearances for the club. In 2019, Areola joined Real Madrid on a season-long loan. In 2020, he joined Fulham on lend ; he followed up with another loan to West Ham United in 2021.

Areola besides represented France at every youth tied and was part of the squads that won the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2018 FIFA World Cup .

Club career [edit ]

Paris Saint-Germain [edit ]

early career [edit ]

Areola playing for Lens in 2014 Areola began playing football at the historic period of six for Entente Sportive des Petits Anges and spent seven years at his local club before signing for Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain. When Areola was 15, and upon the advice of coaches in Paris, he enrolled at the Clairefontaine football center in order to further his development. He returned to PSG the follow year and signed his first professional abridge with the Parisians in July 2009, putting playpen to composition on a three-year cover. [ 5 ] [ 6 ] On 18 May 2013, having progressed through the club ‘s academy, Areola made his senior introduction for PSG, replacing first-choice goalkeeper Salvatore Sirigu in the 48th minute of a 3–1 home gain over Brest. PSG had been crowned Ligue 1 champions prior to the match and their opponents were already relegated. [ 7 ] He made his first begin for the baseball club the follow weekend in a 3–1 succeed over Lorient, playing 61 minutes in what was the final examination peer of the season before being substituted for fourth-choice ‘keeper Ronan Le Crom, who was sent off later in the match for a foul on Julien Quercia. [ 8 ]

2013–16 : Loans to Lens, Bastia and Villarreal [edit ]

On 23 July 2013 he was loaned to Ligue 2 side RC Lens, who were managed by former PSG coach Antoine Kombouaré, for the 2013–14 Ligue 1 season. [ 9 ] Areola immediately displaced Rudy Riou as the club ‘s starting ‘keeper and made 36 appearances for the campaign, included in which was his Coupe de France debut. He besides helped the club to a second-place ending in the league, thereby earning promotion to Ligue 1. [ 10 ] Areola ‘s performances throughout the course of the season earned him the Ligue 2 Goalkeeper of the Year prize and a spot in the team of the Season. [ 11 ] He was besides awarded the Eurosport Revelation of the Year prize, beating the likes of N’Golo Kante and Gaëtan Bussmann. [ 12 ] A verbal agreement was in place for Areola to remain with Sang et Or on loan for the keep up temper but the club ‘s fiscal position raised concerns with the League ‘s National Directorate of Management Control and ultimately put paid to the hypothesis of him returning. [ 13 ] Areola would get a prospect in Ligue 1, however, as Claude Makélélé ‘s Bastia stepped in to sign him on lend for the 2014–15 Ligue 1 crusade, with the deal being completed on 26 July 2014. [ 14 ] [ 15 ] Signed as the refilling for the retire Mickaël Landreau, he made his debut for the cabaret on 9 August in a 3–3 draw with Marseille. [ 16 ] [ 17 ] Areola ultimately made 39 appearances across all competitions for the clubhouse, keeping 13 clean sheets as Bastia ended the Ligue 1 temper in 12th rate and as runner-up in the Coupe de la Ligue. [ 18 ] The Final, which took station on 11 April, was contested between Bastia and Areola ‘s parent club PSG, with the match ending 4–0 in prefer of the Parisians. [ 19 ] On 17 June 2015, La Liga side Villarreal announced the sign of Areola on season-long loan as a successor for regular ‘keeper Sergio Asenjo who had suffered a long-run injury the season before. [ 20 ] He made his debut for the baseball club on the opening day of the season in a 1–1 draw with real Betis. [ 21 ] At Villarreal, Areola enhanced his burgeoning reputation by keeping 15 clean sheets in 37 matches and conceding only 26 goals as the club ended the season in fourthly place in La Liga. [ 22 ] His clean-sheet run for the league temper was bettered by lone two goalkeepers, Jan Oblak of Atlético Madrid, and Claudio Bravo of Barcelona. [ 23 ] Areola besides broke the baseball club phonograph record of 615 minutes of football played without conceding a goal which was previously held by Diego López, ultimately going 620 minutes unbeaten before conceding against Las Palmas. [ 23 ] [ 24 ] Outside of domestic football, the Frenchman featured in the Europa League for the first prison term in his career, making five appearances as El Submarino Amarillo reached the semi-finals where they lost out to eventual runner-up, Liverpool. [ 25 ]

2016–2019 : return to PSG [edit ]

Following his successful stint in Spain, Areola returned to PSG for the 2016–17 Ligue 1 season. He began the political campaign as understudy to german keeper Kevin Trapp, who had signed the temper before, and was in PSG ‘s match-day squad for their 4–1 Trophée des Champions victory over Lyon. [ 26 ] He made his first gear appearance following his return on 13 September in a 1–1 Champions League draw with Arsenal, in what was besides his debut in the contest. [ 27 ] Following the meet against Arsenal, Areola established himself as PSG ‘s first-choice goalkeeper and had kept four cleanse sheets in eight appearances by mid-October. [ 13 ] however, he suffered a downturn in imprint soon after and ultimately relinquished his place to Trapp after a string of matches in December in which he conceded 10 goals from just 11 shots faced. [ 28 ] In April the trace year, he was an unused substitute as PSG beat Monaco 4–1 to claim a record one-fourth square Coupe de la Ligue deed but started in a 1–0 winnings over Angers which saw PSG lift the Coupe de France title the following calendar month. [ 29 ] [ 30 ] The follow season, on 29 July 2017, Areola earned his second Trophée des Champions decoration when he started in a 2–1 win over Monaco which saw PSG claim their fifth consecutive entitle. [ 31 ] [ 32 ] He continued the season as PSG ‘s undisputed goalkeeper in the league and Europe, with Trapp favoured in cup competitions, and was a regular have in the club ‘s record-breaking progress through the group stages of the Champions League. With Areola in finish, PSG conceded equitable once in their opening five matches and scored 24 goals, the most always by a cabaret in the group stages of the contest. [ 33 ] On 31 March 2018, in a recur of the previous seasons ‘s final, Areola was an idle substitute as PSG retained the Coupe de la Ligue style with a 3–0 win over Monaco. [ 34 ] The following month, on 15 April, he started in finish as PSG again defeated Monaco, who were the reigning league champions, 7–1 to claim the Ligue 1 title. [ 35 ] The club completed a domestic treble on 8 May when they defeated third division side Les Herbiers to lift the Coupe de France trophy for a record fourthly back-to-back season ; though Areola was an unused substitute in the final. [ 36 ] Areola was relegated to a rotational character during the following season after the club signed seasoned goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon from Juventus. [ 37 ] He made his hundredth PSG appearance on 21 April 2019 during a 3–1 win over Monaco, on the like day that the club secured its eighth league title. [ 38 ]

2019–present : Loans to Real Madrid, Fulham and West Ham United

[edit ]

On 2 September 2019, Areola returned to Spain when he joined Real Madrid on a season-long loan as separate of a softwood that saw Keylor Navas act in the opposite direction to PSG. [ 39 ] [ 40 ] [ 41 ] He made his debut for the baseball club on 25 September, starting in a 2–0 league win over Osasuna. [ 42 ] however, he was predominantly used as a back-up choice to first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois for the remainder of the campaign and made precisely nine appearances across all competitions, including four appearances during the league season, as real won the 2019–20 La Liga title. [ 43 ] [ 44 ] On 9 September 2020, Areola signed for Fulham on a season-long lend with an option to buy. [ 45 ] He made his debut for the clubhouse one week later in a 1–0 winnings against Ipswich Town in the EFL Cup. [ 46 ] At the end of the season, Fulham suffered relegation from the Premier League, and Areola ‘s choice to buy was not exercised by the London club. [ 47 ] however, he did win Fulham Player of the Season, as voted by the supporters. [ 48 ] On 29 July 2021, West Ham United announced the sign of Areola on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy. [ 49 ] On 22 September 2021 he made his debut in a 1–0 gain against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the EFL Cup, keeping a clean sheet. [ 50 ]

International career [edit ]

Areola has played for France at all young person levels. He was besides eligible to play for the Philippines national team due to his parents being both of Filipino heritage and in 2011 was personally invited by team director Dan Palami to consider playing for the national team. [ 51 ]

young person [edit ]

Areola represented France at every youth level from U16 to U21 between 2008 and 2014. He was the hero for France in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final. Having ended scoreless after extra-time, the match went to a penalty shoot out where Areola saved spot-kicks from Uruguay ‘s Emiliano Velázquez and Giorgian De Arrascaeta to lead his nation to their first base always gloat in the tournament. [ 52 ] He had previously featured for France at the 2010 UEFA european Under-17 Championship and the 2012 UEFA european Under-19 Championship ‘s, and subsequently at the 2015 UEFA european Under-21 Championship .

senior [edit ]

On 1 October 2015, Areola received his first call-up to the senior team by director Didier Deschamps for friendlies against Armenia and Denmark as part of the french team ‘s build-up to hosting UEFA Euro 2016. [ 53 ] He failed to make the tournament police squad, but would be called up on three occasions for friendlies and World Cup qualifiers in September through to November 2016, although he was forced to withdraw from the latter squad after spraining his ankle. [ 54 ] On 17 May 2018, he was named in Deschamps ‘ 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. There he served as the third base goalkeeper behind Hugo Lloris and Steve Mandanda as France went on to lift the championship. [ 55 ] [ 56 ] In doing therefore, he became the first musician since Argentina ‘s Héctor Zelada in 1986 to lift the World Cup trophy despite being uncapped for his country at the clock. [ 57 ] Later that year, and ascribable to a thigh injury sustained by Lloris, Areola was designated as France ‘s starting goalkeeper for the nation ‘s opening UEFA Nations League match against Germany on 6 September. [ 58 ] He kept a clean sheet on his senior international debut and was named homo of the equal in the confrontation which ended in a scoreless tie. [ 59 ]

career statistics [edit ]

golf club [edit ]

As of match played 25 November 2021[60]

International [edit ]

As of match played 2 June 2019[61]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
France 2018 2 0
2019 1 0
Total 3 0

Honours [edit ]

Paris Saint-Germain
Real Madrid
France U20
France
Individual
Orders

References [edit ]