From the struggles of Mads Hermansen and Alphonse Areola to renewed speculation surrounding John Victor, West Ham United just cannot escape the relentless rumours over their goalkeeping position.
After Hermansen’s nightmare start to life in East London went from bad to worse last weekend – he was directly at fault for at least one of the five goals Chelsea scored in a brutal 43 minutes – West Ham United’s new number two hardly covered himself in glory a few days later at Molineux.
Tony Gale questioned Areola’s role in Wolves’ first of a topsy-turvy evening, the Hammers legend watching through his fingers as his old side concede three more of the most avoidable goals imaginable. The Frenchman will also have been disappointed to parry the hosts’ second straight into the path of a grateful Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Even by their standards, spending £18 million on a new goalkeeper and then dipping back into the market for another after two error-strewn displays would be a pretty remarkable development.
Yet while Hammers News can categorically say that John Victor will not be joining, speculation regarding Hull City shot-stopper Ivor Pandur has now reared its head.
Much to the frustration of Tigers head coach Sergej Jakirovic.
Ivor Pandur during Hull City AFC v Derby County FC - Sky Bet Championship
Photo by Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images
Hull City coach Sergej Jakirovic speaks on West Ham United’s Ivor Pandur links
Italian publication Tuttomercatoweb reported on Wednesday that West Ham were considering the Hull City glovesman.
Pandur, who spent three years in Serie A with Hellas Verona, blossomed in difficult circumstances as perennial basket cases Hull.
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So after plucking Hermansen out of Leicester – West Ham liked Stoke miracle-worker Viktor Johanssen too, by the way – has a route opened up for another second-tier goalkeeper to join Graham Potter’s ranks before the transfer deadline?
Jakirovic, by his own admission, is in the dark regarding Pandur’s future. Hull Live report that Championship rivals Middlesbrough are expected to test The Tigers’ resolve, too, regarding their £5 million-rated Croatian.
“I don’t know,” Jakirovic sighed, albeit while confident that Pandur would prefer to stay put at this stage of the window. “Ivor wants to stay, so we will see what the club decide.”
Replacing Pandur would be extremely difficult. And not just because – to quote former boss Liam Rosenior – the former Fortuna Sittard talisman brings an ‘outstanding shot-stopping’ ability to Hull’s team sheet.
Hull are currently stuck under a transfer embargo limiting them to free-agents or loanees.
“His replacement has to be free or on loan,” Jakirovic adds. “But if he’s free, maybe he didn’t train [over the summer] and is not playing.
“So it’s very tricky.”
Nathan Trott shines as Mads Hermansen and Alphonse Areola toil
While the aforementioned John Victor is understood to be heading elsewhere – Turkey, possibly – Hammers News can reveal that West Ham made an approach for Pierce Charles of Sheffield Wednesday earlier in the window.
Charles, Pandur and Johanssen. Three second-tier glovesmen to keep a very close eye on, then, if neither Hermansen nor Areola can string together a consistent run of performances over the coming months.
Ironically, a goalkeeper West Ham bid farewell to back in 2024 can lay a claim to being the most in-form anywhere across England’s top-five leagues right now.
Nathan Trott has been ‘sensational’ at Cardiff City. The Copenhagen loanee is yet to concede a goal for the third-tier pacesetters.
“Cardiff goalkeeper Nathan Trott, what a signing he’s been so far,” EFL expert Ali Maxwell said on the Not the Top 20 podcast.
“Not only does this guy pull out a ‘Cruyff turn’ in every single game, he plays mad passes that so far have gone very well. At some point, there will be an ‘Icarus Concession’. He will fly too close to the sun [and make a mistake].
“But, frankly, he’s already massively in credit because the saves are sensational. Really, really impressive. The fact that Cardiff haven’t conceded isn’t, whisper it, because they’ve been a lockdown defensive team.
“It is mostly because Trott has kept out a lot of the opportunities they have given up.”