West Ham United have agreed to personal terms with Leicester City’s goalkeeper Mads Hermansen as they look to sign the shot-stopper this summer, according to Danish publication Bold.
The Hammers bid farewell to veteran goalkeeper and club legend Lukasz Fabianski after seven seasons at the London Stadium, where he played 216 games for the club.
Currently, Alphonse Areola and Wes Foderingham are the club’s other options. However, they still need a younger and more reliable shot-stopper between the sticks for now and the future, especially with the 32-year-old first choice, Areola, nearing the final two years of his contract.
Hermansen has proven his worth in the league with top-drawer saves, but his brilliance in goal wasn’t enough as the Foxes eventually got relegated.
It appears a return to the Premier League now looks likely, as Bold claims that West Ham are leading the race for Hermansen’s signature and have now ‘reached an agreement’ on personal terms with the 25-year-old.
The Danish outlet adds that the Hammers have initiated contacts with Leicester and are now in ‘concrete talks’ over the Denmark international’s transfer to the London Stadium this summer.
Negotiations between both clubs are expected to be ‘positive,’ with the Dane expected to leave the East Midlands outfit to join West Ham, as per the report.
Hermansen to West Ham
A separate report from TBR Football confirms Hermansen’s potential move to West Ham and reveals that the Hammers are looking to pay less than Leicester’s demand of a fee in the region of £25m.
While there might be concerns over the Dane keeping just one clean sheet in the Premier League last season, he was mostly let down by the defence and the team at large, who were poor for most of the campaign.
His performance against Arsenal, where he made 13 saves—the most in a Premier League game since David de Gea for Manchester United here against Arsenal in 2017—as well as his penalty save against Cole Palmer, becoming the first and only goalkeeper to save from the Englishman, are indications that the 6ft 1in shotstopper can thrive with a well-structured defence.
West Ham’s newly appointed goalkeeping coach, Casper Ankergren, previously worked with the Hermansen during their time at Brøndby, which could be a boost, as the Dane would have a seamless adaptation period should the deal be formalised.
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