Manuel Pellegrini has admitted that he was eager to retain goalkeeper Adrian this summer.
Speaking to the press via Goal before the Hammers trip to the Amex Stadium to face Brighton, the Chilean manager said that he wanted to keep the Spanish shot-stopper in east London beyond his expiring contract, but the player and club were unable to reach an agreement on a new deal.
Pellegrini said: “He’s a very good goalkeeper. For different reasons, he couldn’t find an arrangement to continue here. We wanted him here because not only is he a good goalkeeper, he’s a good player for the squad also.
Adrian was snapped up by Liverpool initially as a backup for Alisson following the departure of Simon Mignolet, however, the Brazilian keeper sustained a calf injury in the first game of the new campaign against Norwich, forcing the former West Ham keeper to take up the position in between the sticks.
With Jurgen Klopp later admitting to the club’s official website that Alisson will be out for a few weeks, Adrian has taken the number one spot in the Liverpool XI and started for the Reds in the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea, where the Spanish keeper immediately became a hero amongst fans of the Merseyside club after saving the final spot-kick in the penalty shootout to see the reigning Champions League holders lift the trophy.
The 32-year-old keeper joined West Ham in the summer of 2013 from Real Betis but didn’t assert himself as the first-team goalkeeper until after a year with the East London side.
Adrian, in total, made 150 appearances for the Hammers as numbers from Transfermarkt show, keeping 43 clean sheets and conceding 215 goals for West Ham. His successor, Lukasz Fabianski, won Hammer of the Year in his first season with the club.
