The goalkeeper was part of history when Leeds United beat Manchester United in 2010.
Former Leeds United goalkeeper Casper Ankergren looks set for a surprise move to the Premier League - as part of Graham Potter’s West Ham coaching staff.
Ankergren never made it as high as the Premier League during his playing days, with stints at Leeds and Brighton only taking him up to Championship-level. The Danish goalkeeper spent three-and-a-half years between the posts at Elland Road, playing 142 games across all competitions - most of which came in League One.
Having been first-choice throughout his Leeds stint, Ankergren was part of the Leeds side who wrote themselves into history with a 1-0 FA Cup third round win over Manchester United back in January 2010. He was also a key part of that League One promotion-winning side and so is etched into some memorable moments during otherwise dark times in West Yorkshire.
Ankergren left Leeds for Brighton in the summer of 2010 and after retiring in 2017, moved into a role as goalkeeping coach - a position he eventually took up at fellow former club Brondby IF in 2021. And now the 45-year-old could be set to become part of a Premier League coaching team as reports emerge of interest from West Ham.
The potential move comes thanks to Ankergren’s coaching role at Brighton, where he worked alongside manager at the time Potter. He replaced Julen Lopetegui as West Ham boss in January and ahead of his first full season at the London Stadium, appears keen to bring in more trusted staff.
As such, Danish outlet Tipsbladet reports West Ham and Brondby are now negotiating a compensation fee for Ankergren, who is highly regarded at his current club and has two years left on his contract. The expectation, according to the report, is that an agreement will be reached imminently, with the former Leeds goalkeeper set to reunite with Potter in London ahead of next season.
What has Casper Ankergren said on Leeds United since leaving?
That, of course, opens up the possibility of Ankergren returning to Elland Road with West Ham next season. The Hammers are due in West Yorkshire on October 25 - albeit that is subject to change - before Leeds go to the London Stadium on the final day of the season.
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Ankergren was far from perfect during his stint at Leeds but remains well-liked among fans, thanks mostly to memorable saves against the likes of Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov during that famous FA Cup win. The Dane was not involved for the promotion-winning victory over Bristol Rovers a few months later but remembers both fondly.
“It was a great day and a great experience,” Ankergren told Leeds Live back in 2023 of the win at Old Trafford. “But at the time I probably didn’t understand how much it meant to the fans. It was only afterwards that I found out how much it meant to the Leeds fans to beat Manchester United at Old Trafford. I don’t know whether we would've won many, if we had played them another 10 times, but we had a really good team.
“Winning promotion was the bigger achievement for me. It’s crazy when you think about it but we were actually a little bit lucky to get out of League One with the way it all panned out. We went a man down and we were trailing against Bristol Rovers. To end up winning was incredible and the legacy of that side continued because so many them went onto have brilliant careers.”
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