Stuart Pearce: West Ham have to swallow their pride for transfer U-turn on loan-to-buy signing
West Ham will be desperate to secure further additions to their squad before Monday’s transfer deadline.
The Hammers have endured a dire start to the new Premier League campaign, having suffered heavy defeats in both of their league outings so far.
Graham Potter is already under severe pressure at West Ham, and he will be pushing to try and strengthen the options available to him in any way possible over the next few days.
That may even mean that the East Londoners have to reinforce a position that they had already addressed.
West Ham reignite John Victor chase amid Stuart Pearce claim
Mads Hermansen has already made several errors for West Ham in the opening two games, despite only joining from Leicester City a matter of weeks ago.
The Hammers paid a fee of around £20million for the gloveman, but he could already be in line to be replaced in E20.
West Ham are understood to have reignited their interest in John Victor, and are now pursuing an initial loan deal with the option to buy, according to journalist Ben Jacobs via X.
They had previously had a £10m deal agreed for the Brazilian, but Potter instead pushed for Hermansen to be signed.
- West Ham had agreed a £10m deal for John Victor, but Potter pushed them towards Hermansen instead
- The Dane already has a goals prevented stat of -1.2 from just two league games
- He also has the third-worst save percentage figure in the league
Former West Ham hero Stuart Pearce shared his opinion on the situation live on talkSPORT (26 August, 7:51pm), and he pointed out an issue surrounding the current situation with Hermansen.
“He (Hermansen) has looked shaky so far,” Pearce said.
“Sometimes, you have to swallow your pride and bring another goalkeeper in, because if you don’t fancy the two that you’ve got on your books at the moment, then it’s a long campaign.
“If you’ve not got a decent goalkeeper, then the one thing that you can be pretty sure of is that the rest of the Premier League will target that.
“They’ll start whipping the ball under the crossbar and making life hell for the goalkeeper.”
John Victor update creates embarrassment for Graham Potter
The Hermansen situation is another nightmare for Potter, and could easily take the boss another step towards losing his job.
| Stats | Hermansen’s Total |
| Clean Sheets | – |
| Save Percentage | 33.3% |
| Saves per 90 | 2 |
| Goals Prevented | -1.2 |
| Goals Conceded per 90 | 4 |
The shot stopper’s current form is a damning reflection on Potter’s eye for a player, and it will be an even more embarrassing situation for the 50-year-old if his side end up turning back towards the man who he swayed them away from.
Potter’s faith in Hermansen will now be seriously tested, as he faces a decision over continuing to pursue with a gloveman who could continue to let him down.
But on the other hand, then he could totally undermine himself by opting to try and change.
The former Chelsea chief is facing an increasingly perilous situation in E20, and this is yet another instance that simply does not reflect well on him.
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