Five quality goalkeepers who could be on the move this summer

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The rumour mill is cranking into top gear as the summer transfer window opens. Here’s a look at five goalkeepers who could (and in some cases possibly should) be on the move in coming weeks.

Hugo Lloris (Lyon)

The stories about Lloris’s imminent departure from the Stade Gerland rival the ‘Cesc Fabregas to anywhere’ rumours in terms of tedium and frequency. Every summer the talk is this will be the one where he finally leaves. Tottenham have been linked, but with Brad Friedel still looking youthful and spritely, is it necessary? Immensely talented and clearly capable at the highest level, Lloris would be a great acquisition. But a lack of vacancies at Europe’s elite clubs suggests he might stay put. Aside from a couple of the Italian giants, very few of Europe’s top dogs are looking for an upgrade. Another season on the banks of the Rhone may be required until the right job comes along.

Johannes Hopf (Hammarby)

A new season is underway in Sweden and once again Hopf continues to impress. He was immense in ensuring Hammarby didn’t endure the indignity of going down to the third tier of Swedish football and has brought that form into the club’s improved form of the new campaign.

His agility, handling and leadership mark him out as a goalkeeper who can succeed at a higher level. He has the build and composure to prosper in the English game and it has clearly been noticed by the scout. Three Premier League teams and a host of top Championship sides were close to making a move last summer and after a strong finish to last year’s Superettan and brilliant start to this campaign, that enthusiasm is only likely to have swelled. Celtic and Hoffenheim have also been tracking the 25 year old and a move abroad must surely be imminent.

Ben Foster (Birmingham)

It was meant to be simple. If West Brom where to stay up and Birmingham failed to get promotion, Foster was supposed to stay at the Hawthorns by making his loan move permanent. The Blues unintentionally kept their end of the bargain, but the departure of Roy Hodgson has complicated matters. The 2011/12 season was a campaign of blissful simplicity and safety for the Baggies, but without Uncle Roy, next season will lack the same comfort. Birmingham may want to take him back, but with the up and coming Jack Butland within their ranks, they may also be tempted to cash in.

Last season was a good one for Foster. So much so that there was hope he would again make himself available for international selection again. It hasn’t happened yet, but he may be of interest to teams further up the Premier League food chain. He looks a more composed and reliable keeper in recent times. Combined with his excellent reactions, he has a lot to offer. The likes of Old Trafford may not come calling, but another big club may be tempted to swoop.

Guillermo Ochoa (Ajaccio)

Ochoa’s move to the Corsican club was a curious one, but after an excellent season, it now looks a shrewd one. The Mexican was aware of the need to rebuild his stock after his part in a banned substance fiasco at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He and his fellow suspects were cleared of wrong-doing, but possibly aware of the ‘no smoke without fire’ attitude to drug rumours, packed his bags to start afresh in Ligue 1. He openly spoke about Ajaccio being a stepping stone to bigger and better things and the gamble seems to have worked. He looks to have achieved his aims and after playing a vital role in keeping the club in Ligue 1, he is attracting interest. His reactions and agility are absolutely world-class and have surely been noticed by clubs further up the food chain.

Marc-Andre ter Stegen (Borussia Mochengladbach)

Ter Stegen is one of the several young and immensely talented goalkeepers emerging from Germany. The 20-year-old has been linked with Barcelona to provide back-up and competition to Victor Valdes who hasn’t been flawless in the last few months. His appetite to benchwarm for the next couple of years will be slight, but the prospect of positioning himself perfectly to take one of the top goalkeeping berths in world football must also be tempting.

Brave, athletic and an organiser, he is a hugely exciting prospect. His international debut didn’t go so well after the Mannschaft conceded five goals against Switzerland. Disappointingly, Joachim Loew left him out of the squad heading for Euro 2012, but he is a player for Germany’s future.

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Ex Arsenal Keeper Praises Celtic Target

Former Arsenal and Swedish international goalkeeper, Rabi Shaaban has heaped praise upon club-mate and rising star Johannes Hopf. Hopf (24) was scouted heavily by Celtic as well as clubs from Germany and Greece after a string of impressive performances towards the end of last season and the glowing words of Shabaan are sure to spark a resurgence in interest.

Shaaban is better placed than most to judge the rise of the young Swede. The former Gunner joined Hammarby back in his native Sweden back in 2008 after stints in England and Norway. He was first choice for the 2009 season, but in 2010 was relegated to the role of back-up by the emergence of Hopf. He hung up his gloves at the conclusion of last season after the form of Hopf played a huge role in saving the Stockholm club from relegation to the third tier of Swedish football. Since then, Shabaan has assumed the role of assistant goalkeeping coach at Hammarby and he has been impressed by what he has seen from his former rival for the starting goalkeeping berth.

“Johannes has an incredible attitude and desire,” said Shabaan reinforcing attributes that were noted by the Celtic scouts. A bid was made with a view to signing him in the January transfer window, but it fell well short of the price the Swedish club want for one of their most prized assets. With Tim Krul now firmly established as first choice for Newcastle, it seems highly likely that Alan Pardew will let Fraser Forster go for the right price and will more than likely join the Bhoys on a permanent basis from next season. Neil Lennon is still looking to strengthen his goalkeeping options and Hopf would represent a reasonably priced option with the huge potential, a view backed up by Shabaan.

“Hopf can go very far. It’s up to him. It feels good to him, I’ve been training goalkeepers a lot in the preseason. He is attentive, listens, and thinks for himself. He will now need to apply it and it will be interesting to see if he can manage it, as I hope and believe,” explained Shabaan in an interview with http://www.fotbolldirekt.se.

One club repeatedly linked to Hopf are Hoffenheim. The German outfit have developed a reputation as a club with an ability to uncover young talent missed by others and Shabaan believes his former team-mate would have little problem succeeding in the Bundesliga or another major European league. “It will suit him and it’s only a matter of time before a big move comes along. He has to keep working and learning with each workout,” he added.

For more on Hopf, here’s a highlights reel of him in action and an interview conducted with him back in October.

West Brom in for Bill Hamid

West Bromwich Albion are said to be stepping up their interest in highly rated US goalkeeper, Bill Hamid. The 20 year old has been first choice at DC United for little over a year and has been fast-tracked into the international set-up, although he is yet to make his senior debut.

As the evidence below highlights, he’s immensely agile with quick reflexes. With Ben Foster’s loan deal expiring at the end of the season, Roy Hodgson needs to pad out his goalkeeping ranks and signing Hamid would make sense.

That said however, he’s still a little rough around the edges and would need to work on his handling in particular to be a viable 1st choice. I’ve railed against the notion goalkeepers need to catch every single shot and cross perfectly, but having watched him several times during the MLS season, I think he opts to parry and punch too often. Or at least often enough to earn unwanted ‘flapper’ labels from pundits and journalists.

He’d be an interesting addition to the Premier League if it was to happen, but success is far from guaranteed.

Premier League 2011/12 GK Preview: Aston Villa

Aston Villa

1st Team Squad Goalkeepers: Shay Given, Brad Guzan, Andy Marshall, Elliot Parish

Overview: Replacing Brad Friedel is no easy task, but Villa have traded upwards with the acquisition of Shay Given. When he first lost his place to Joe Hart, I would have considered him one of the finest goalkeepers in the world, but for whatever reason – politics I suspect – Roberto Mancini opted for the young English man over the considerable experience of Given. It’s a decision that has worked out well, but a couple of times during the last season the Irish goalie deserved to be reinstated and was left sitting on the bench. From his outings in cup competitions and for Ireland, Given doesn’t look to have suddenly lost his ability. He has on occasion looked rusty, but the fundamentals – the reactions, the agility, the handling – remain solid and it’s only a matter of time before he regains his match sharpness. The main concern is hit recent record with injuries. By and large, Given has been relatively lucky with injuries throughout his career, but in the last couple of years, he’s picked up a couple of serious ones. Once the injuries start to creep in, it’s hard to shake them off. We’re not even talking recurrences of previous problems. It’s a bizarre phenomenon in elite sport by which once someone suffers a major injury to one part of the body, the frequency of other non-related injuries seems to increase. Hopefully Given can finish out the last few years of his career avoiding lengthy spells on the sidelines, but sadly it’s a concern. In reserve, Alex McLeish can call upon the services of Brad Guzan. I must admit, I assumed the American would be given his chance to replace his compatriot when Friedel moved to White Hart Lane, but he doesn’t seem to be considered a viable long-term option. Martin O’Neill didn’t seem to rate him and he spent some of last season on loan at Hull. He’s young enough to make it in the Premier League, but he needs to see more first team action and soon. Beyond the first two, the experienced Andy Marshall can do a job in an emergency, but hopefully won’t be required for too many games and Elliot Parish is likely to spend the season on loan somewhere.

Worst case scenario: With age catching up on him, Given’s injury woes won’t go away and he misses large parts of the season. Guzan steps in, but makes a couple of errors. With no real alternatives, Villa concede a few costly goals that their revamped attack struggles to compensate for and the relegation fears of last season resurface under the leadership of Alex McLeish.

Most likely outcome: Given may initially look rusty on his return to regular Premier League, but I fully expect him to return to something approaching his best. Even at his best, he was capable of making the odd mistake, but overall he’s a major positive for the team.

Premier League 2011/12 GK Preview: Swansea City

Swansea

1st Team Squad Goalkeepers: Michel Vorm, Jose Moreira, David Cornell, Yves Makabu-Makalambay

Overview: The summer transfer window has seen a complete U-turn in fortunes for Swansea’s goalkeeping ranks. It started with the disappointment of the departure of the goalkeeper who was instrumental in getting them to the promised land of the Premier League, Dorus De Vries, but they’ve done some impressive wheeling and dealing to more than compensate for his loss. I’ve said all along that as much as he was a great servant to the club, losing De Vries isn’t the a huge loss. It would have been had the Swans not strengthened their goalkeeping ranks to such an extent. He’s a good goalkeeper, but I feel his weaknesses would have been really exposed in the Premier League. He’s a good all-rounder with good natural reflexes, is very strong in one on one situations and is always brave and committed, but also found there to be a certain lack of agility to him and he was often rather untidy with his handling.

The signing of Jose Moreira was a decent signing, but not one that totally convinced. He comes with credentials. Although there’s a lack of strength in-depth in the Portuguese league, he has managed ten years at the pressure cauldron that is Benfica and that’s not something you do without a certain amount of ability. He’s also got an international cap to his name which again doesn’t necessarily translate and guaranteed quality, but does hint at something above the ordinary. Scratch the surface however and its a little more questionable. Moreira did spend a decade in Lisbon, but for much of it was only a back-up. He averaged 11 games a season and although some of that was down to injury, he hasn’t been first choice for an extended period of time.

It’s not all bad however, He’s an athletic, robust sort of keeper who shouldn’t have too many problems adapting to the English game. I’m reluctant to use the phrase ‘good shot-stopper’, but there’s little doubt that his main skill is the ability to cover his goal. After that, the question marks start to appear. He’s not the most convincing under crosses, favouring the punch rather than the catch in the majority of cases and in general he prefers to parry away shots rather than attempting the clean sheet. The commentators and pundits can get caught up in lambasting goalkeepers for punching and parrying rather than catching, but it certainly has it’s merits and there are plenty of situations in which it’s the right decision for a goalkeeper to make. With Moreira, his utter reluctance to catch the ball crosses over the line from being a sensible call by the goalkeeper to being a bit of an issue.

The signing of Michel Vorm changes everything however and when the season comes to an end £1.5 million fee could have him mentioned as the bargain of the season. Vorm is a an excellent goalkeeper. Although comparing him with a hypothetical hybrid does a disservice to all involved, for illustrative purposes I would see him as being something of a mix between Jorge Campos and Shay Given and here’s why. He’s got the spring-heeled agility of the Mexican goalkeeping legend. He absolutely launches himself at shots and combined with his superb reflexes, he is capable of pulling off virtually miraculous saves.He’s quick off his line, incredibly brave and he has got really good hands, not dissimilar to the Irish international. It’s no surprise to see him gain international recognition and he’ll surely go on to amass more than his five caps over the next few years.

The mentioning of Campos and Given does also have some negative connotations however. Vorm is on the shorter end of the spectrum when it comes to goalkeepers. His height is given as being 6ft on the nose, but as with most profiles, I think that may be a case of rounding up. As such he doesn’t have a great command of aerial situations. I’ve argued that this isn’t necessarily a terrible trait. As long as defenders know that their goalkeeper won’t be coming for a cross and it’s up to them to deal with it, confusion should be avoided. It’s something the players in front of Shay Given have had to deal with throughout his career and he has been involved in remarkably few calamities on crosses. Bigger problems arise with goalkeepers who make bad judgements of when to come for crosses and the sense of uncertainty creeps into the penalty area.

The two acquisitions mean David Cornell can go out on loan and get some much-needed first team experience. He’s a young player of immense potential, but he has long way to go and possibly a couple of loan spells away from the club before being a Premier League keeper. It also means Yves Makabu-Makalambay should see a mercifully minimal amount of playing time. At his best, the Belgian is an agile and effective keeper, but too often a howler isn’t too far around the corner.

Worst case scenario: In my opinion, the Swans have gone from a dire goalkeeping situation to one of real strength. The real concern would be that neither Moreira or Vorm settle in the English game, but even so, Brendan Rogers should be able to rotate them in such a way that he always has one who is in some kind of form.

What will probably happen: Vorm will perform well and make the difference between Swansea earning three points rather than one or one point rather than none. If there is a dip in form, Moreira can step in and more than likely do a decent job for a few games without having his weaknesses exposed to any great effect.