The Dane arrives at the London Stadium with a reputation shaped by relegation but his performances, pedigree and penalty heroics suggest he could be the key to West Ham’s defensive revival.
The stigma of signing from a relegated club
There is a stigma around signing players — no matter how good they are — from clubs that have recently been relegated. The logic is easy enough to follow: how can a player be expected to improve a squad if their last season ended in catastrophe?
As a result, these arrivals from relegated sides rarely generate the same excitement as players coming from more successful backgrounds.
No position attracts this kind of scrutiny more than a goalkeeper. The popular — and often lazy — assumption is that if they were really that good, their team wouldn’t have gone down. That’s the reputation Mads Hermansen brings with him from Leicester City, who finished 18th last season despite his 27 appearances and one clean sheet
Now, he steps into a similar fight at the London Stadium as West Ham are priced at just 5/1 to be relegated in the latest sports betting markets, numbers that point to a decent chance of survival under Graham Potter, but still leave the door open for a nervy season if results turn.
Potter’s defensive rebuild
The reality is that to improve on last season’s 14th-place finish and steer clear of a relegation fight, Potter will have to shore up a West Ham backline that conceded 62 goals. Tellingly, only five clubs in the league let in more.
The 50-year-old has wasted no time addressing that over the summer, first signing 25-year-old centre-back Jean-Clair Todibo from Nice and then, as touched on earlier, Hermansen from Leicester.
But while Todibo strengthens the line in front, it is Hermansen who may ultimately decide whether West Ham’s defensive overhaul works, as a composed keeper can inspire confidence and transform a team’s fortunes at the back.
So, what can Hammers fans expect from their new No. 1?
The numbers behind the performance
Hermansen’s shot-stopping ability is what really stands out. During the 2024–25 Premier League campaign with Leicester, he made 103 saves from 161 shots, giving him a save percentage of roughly 64%. That ranked him third in the division for total saves, proof that he was one of the busiest keepers in the league and more than capable of handling sustained pressure.
His goals prevented figure in the Premier League was slightly negative (–0.55), meaning he conceded around half a goal more than expected over the season, essentially in line with the league average for goalkeepers.
One factor was a relative vulnerability to high balls into the box. Even so, the numbers do not tell the full story and overlook the lack of protection he often had, and they certainly do not diminish his sharp reflexes, particularly at close range.
Go back a season to Leicester’s Championship-winning campaign and the picture sharpens. Hermansen posted a 73.4% save rate, ranked third among all Championship goalkeepers and led the league in goals prevented, keeping out almost six more than expected over the course of the season. It was enough to earn the Dane a place in the Championship Team of the Season.
Penalty prowess
Another area where he excels is from the penalty spot. Hermansen saved one of the four penalties he faced in the Premier League last season, including one against Cole Palmer at Stamford Bridge in a 1-0 win for Chelsea, a rare blot on the spot-kick record of a player often described as robotic from 12 yards.
His penalty reputation was forged earlier at Brøndby, where he famously pulled off a triple penalty save in a single sequence against FC Nordsjælland, an extraordinary feat that cemented his name in Danish football folklore.
A complete modern goalkeeper
He’s also far from a traditional line-bound keeper. Confident with the ball at his feet, Hermansen averaged 34.9 passes per 90 minutes last season and often acted as a sweeper outside his box. It’s this blend of reflexes, distribution and command of his area that makes him, as West Ham’s own analysis described, one of the most complete younger goalkeepers in Europe’s top five leagues.
While the circumstances of last season mean Hermansen arrives with the inevitable tag that follows players from relegated clubs, it is also worth considering how highly he is regarded by the one he leaves behind. Among Leicester supporters, his departure has been met with genuine disappointment, with many at the King Power acknowledging that without his contributions, the club’s struggles could have been far worse.
Of course, none of this gives us a black-and-white answer as to whether Hermansen will bring the Hammers a sense of calm and authority at the back following Łukasz Fabiański’s departure. Only time will tell, but the numbers suggest West Ham should concede fewer goals than they did last season.
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