New signing Mads Hermansen once did something so good it was given its own T-shirt
West Ham United have completed the signing of goalkeeper Mads Hermansen from Leicester City.
The Danish stopper signs for a reported fee of £20million, making him the Hammers most expensive keeper ever.
Graham Potter had named it as his main priority to sign a new goalkeeper after Alphonse Areola showed patchy form in pre-season.
West Ham also released Lukasz Fabianski earlier in the summer.
Hermansen was part of the Leicester team relegated from the Premier League last summer, but the Hammers backline is likely to be in safe hands with the 25-year-old between the sticks.
Hermansen once made a save so good it got its own T-shirt
Potter has been eyeing a few goalkeepers this summer but Hermansen always appeared to be his number one choice.
There has been a lot of hype surrounding him in his native Denmark ever since he started out in Brondby in 2018.
Casper Ankergren, West Ham’s goalkeeping coach, worked with Hermansen at Brondby and likely had a whisper in Potter’s ear about his talents.
Ankergren will likely remember Hermansen’s triple save that was considered good enough for Brondby to make a commemorative T-shirt.
With the match tied at 1-1, the young stopper saved a late-minute penalty against FC Nordsjaelland and two rebounds from the strikers following up. It was a stop so good it was then immortalised.
West Ham had no choice but to sign a new goalkeeper
Areola has been a loyal servant for West Ham United since signing from Fulham in 2022.
He quickly ousted Fabianski as West Ham’s number one and started the Conference League final on the famous night where the Hammers picked up a European trophy.
| Alphonse Areola 2024-25 statistics | |
| Signed | June 2022 |
| Appearances | 82 |
However, Areola’s form deteriorated at times last season.
Potter decided this summer that he had to spend big money on a new goalkeeper, targeting Hermansen as well as several big names from Europe.
This appeared to have affected Areola’s confidence, and he made several high-profile errors during pre-season friendlies. The West Ham fans began to turn him at this point, on social media at least.
It would have taken a huge turnaround for the Frenchman to regain his peak form after all that, so it’s probably for the best that Potter has got his new goalkeeper before the Premier League season kicks off.
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