In a tale of two Scandinavian shot-stoppers, West Ham United’s Mads Hermansen has certainly enjoyed his 2026 a lot more than Stoke City’s Swedish glovesman Viktor Johansson.
A stark contrast to their varying prospects in the second half of 2025.
Viktor Johansson made a ‘stunning’ start to the Championship season with early pacesetters Stoke City. West Ham United reportedly considered signing the ex-Rotherham glovesman before spending £20 million on Mads Hermansen. And while the latter lost his place after only four Premier League outings, the former quickly set about strengthening his status as the finest goalkeeper in the whole of the EFL.
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Former Hammers boss Graham Potter, the man who removed Hermansen from the firing line before his September sacking, then confirmed that Johansson would be Sweden’s first-choice goalkeeper for the remainder of their World Cup qualification campaign.
Now though, a long-term injury means Johansson will miss this month’s play off against Ukraine. In contrast, Hermansen looks well placed to snatch the Denmark jersey from a badly out of form, 39-year-old Kasper Schmeichel.
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Johansson has not played a single minute in 2026 due to a niggling shoulder injury. In his absence, Stoke have won only once in 11 matches, dropping down the division like a stone.
“[Johansson and the stricken striker Robert Bozenik] are still working through it and it’s really difficult to put a timeframe on [their returns],” Stoke boss Mark Robins said this week.
“They’ve had significant injuries.
“Vik is a goalkeeper so he has to move his arms and land on his shoulder so that’s going to take a little bit of time. He’s got to build up that resilience around it.”
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With Hermansen back in the team and back in form, of the two Scandinavian goalkeepers high on their wishlist last summer, West Ham suddenly seem to have got the better of the two deals.
As for Potter, a nightmare end to his West Ham tenure means his season – and arguably his reputation – now rests on Sweden’s success in the looming World Cup play-offs.
The loss of Johansson, so soon after Potter publicly installed the Stockholm-born 27-year-old as his first-choice, does not make his task any easier.
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Still, Potter may feel vindicated to an extent as the in-form Hermansen sets about silencing those who felt his Hammers career was over after just four awful outings in the late-summer. He, alongside the now-crocked Crysencio Summerville, is one of the main reasons why West Ham have a very real shot of escaping the relegation zone.
West Ham’s gain is most certainly Tottenham’s loss, meanwhile. Spurs held talks with the Hammers in January about a potential deal that would have seen Hermansen swap places with Antonin Kinsky.
Yes, that Antonin Kinsky.
Should West Ham pick up a shock win at home to Manchester City, and if Spurs lose at Liverpool, they will end the weekend above their London neighbours in the table.
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