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Who Is This Ghanaian Goalkeeper That West Ham Have Just Signed – Here’s Everything You Need To Know

Joseph Anang

Scout Report – Joseph Anang

According to a report from the Express, West Ham United have completed the signing of young goalkeeper Joseph Anang. The 19-year old was on trial with the East Londoners and featured for the club’s reserve side in a friendly against Dagenham & Redbridge.  

Impressed by his abilities, the Hammers have offered him a contract, which he has signed, but is waiting on international clearance to make the move official.  

Anang becomes the fifth signing of the summer for West Ham and the second goalkeeper coming in, following the loan signing of Joe Hart. With his signing almost a done deal, here we take a look at who Joseph Anang is and what he will add to the club.

Footballing Background 

Born on 1 January 1998, in Ghana, Joseph Tetteh Anang started off his playing days with Ghanaian outfit Danbort FC, before moving on to join the Wa All Stars FC academy soon after. Having earned his spurs with the club in his homeland, he moved to Great Britain and earned a trial spell with West Ham United U-18s. 

The youngster, having impressed in his brief spell with the club, was taken along for West Ham’s pre-season tour to Austria. Upon returning from the tour, he was part of the reserves’ side that faced Dagenham & Redbridge, beating the Daggers 2-1. Anang impressed in the game and seems to have done enough to earn a professional contract with the club. 

Style of Play 

The 19-year old is a tall and well-built goalkeeper with quite a robust physicality for someone his age. He uses his physique well to deal with aerial balls in and around the six-yard box and shows good command in the area.

 

Possessing decent reflexes as well as good strong hands, Anang has demonstrated most traits of developing into a good goalkeeping option for the Hammers. He has also shown good concentration span, something which is very important for a goalkeeper.  

Like many youngsters coming through, Anang too has a lot of work to be done though, mainly on his decision making – he tends to get caught in two minds, whether to come out of his line or stay between the posts on occasions. Distribution from the back is another area where improvement is needed, as that aspect has grown into a very important feature that a goalkeeper should possess in his repertoire.  

What Does The Future Hold? 

Anang is the second goalkeeper that Hammers are bringing in this summer, having already signed Joe Hart on loan from Manchester City. Hart is likely to be the No.1 for the coming season with Adrian being the second-choice if he stays. Following Darren Randolph’s exit to Middlesbrough, the third-choice spot is open, but it is unlikely that the Ghanaian will be ushered into the first-team immediately.  

The 19-year old will likely be put through the paces with the reserves for another season or two and depending on how his development progresses, he may get inducted into the first-team scenes.