When Mads Hermansen learned that a move to West Ham United was on the cards, it did not take the former Leicester City goalkeeper long to renew acquaintances with a certain Frederik Alves.
While Hermansen credits Casper Ankergren with playing a major role in his development back home in Denmark – the duo now reunited at the London Stadium – West Ham’s new number one played alongside Frederik Alves too during the 2022/23 campaign.
And while Alves did not make a single appearance during his brief spell in claret and blue, the now-25-year-old defender only had ‘great things’ to say about the London Stadium outfit.
Thrown straight into Graham Potter’s starting XI for Saturday’s opening weekend clash with Sunderland, Mads Hermansen has already overtaken Alves in terms of first-team appearances in a West Ham United shirt.
This was not the debut he wanted, of course.
Sky Sports pundit Clinton Morrison felt Hermansen gifted Sunderland their third goal with a ‘big mistake’, Wilson Isidor’s very savable shot beating the £18 million signing down to his left. Leicester legend Gary Lineker called it an ‘awful’ debut, though he knows better than most what the former Fox is truly capable of.
As for Alves, speaking to West Ham’s official website, he remains confident that happier times lie just around the corner.
Frederik Alves raves about West Ham United newbie Mads Hermansen
Brondby finished a disappointing fifth in the Danish Superliga table during the 2022/23 campaign.
Hermansen still did more than enough to earn himself a £5 million move to the King Power Stadium that summer, though, with Alves delighted to see a player he also shared a pitch with for Denmark’s Under-21s seize his big break.
“I knew Mads before I came to Brondby because we were on Under-21s duty together with Denmark, and that’s where our friendship just started,” Alves recalls fondly. “When I came to Brondby, it got stronger, and we’re now best friends.
“I only have positive things to say about Mads. He’s a very passionate lad. He’s very professional also. He’s just a very, very good guy off the pitch, and I just think that West Ham are privileged to have such a guy in the squad.
“There’s no doubt in my mind that the club will benefit from him and also the other way around. He has so much talent and is still young, so I think he has much more to offer.
“I want to say to you guys, on behalf of Brondby, that you should take good care of both Mads and Casper because you just have a goalkeeper and coach that have a special connection. I could see from my first day that they work very well together.”
Hermansen shares what Alves told him about West Ham
Casper Ankergren, who worked with Graham Potter at Brighton and Hove Albion, is also working at Rush Green these days, appointed the club’s lead first-team goalkeeping coach.
Ankergren and assistant Linus Kandolin could be seen putting the newbie through his paces on the training pitch ahead of that trip to Wearside. Hermansen’s ball-playing talents should suit Potter’s gameplan, though the fine shot-stopping he demonstrated at Leicester could prove even more invaluable unless big improvements are forthcoming defensively.
“I’m very happy. I’m very proud to be here, and I can’t wait to get started,” Hermansen said last week. “I felt a long time ago that West Ham and I could be a good match.
“I can definitely see myself playing in the way the team wants to, so it felt natural all the way, so West Ham was a pretty easy choice.
“It’s very special. One of my good friends, Frederik Alves, who I played with at Brondby, was the last one to be here, so I heard a lot of great things about the club. I can’t wait.”
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