If you had told the skeptical West Ham United supporters a few months ago that Mads Hermansen was sitting atop the Premier League rankings, they may have assumed you were pointing to the ‘goals conceded’ column.
Hermansen only displaced Alphonse Areola in February, waiting five months to make his league debut under Nuno Espirito Santo.
Since then, the Dane has not only justified his inclusion over his more experienced rival, but is threatening to put an end to speculation regarding the future of West Ham United’s number one jersey.
Finish this sentence!
West Ham's no.1 goalkeeper in 2026/27 will be… 🧤
It is well-documented that Chelsea loanee Axel Disasi has recorded five Premier League clean sheets in nine outings since arriving in the winter. That Mads Hermansen has started between the sticks for every one of those nine games, though, may have flown under the radar outside of the London Stadium.
In fact, of the Premier League goalkeepers to make more than one top-flight appearance in 2025/26, Hermansen has the best clean sheet percentage in the entire competition.
Mads Hermansen secures another West Ham United clean sheet
The summer signing from Leicester City has six clean sheets in 13 games. An average of 46 per cent.
That Selhurst Park stalemate sees Hermansen overtake Arsenal’s David Raya; four clear in the Golden Boot race. Gianluigi Donnarumma, having gifted Kai Havertz a goal during Sunday’s top-of-the-table battle between Manchester City and Mikel Arteta’s misfiring Gunners, sees his percentage slip to 41 per cent.
“I’m quite an emotional guy, and when things get emotional, I try to ask myself how I can take all this emotional stuff out of the football part of my life,” Hermansen told Sky Sports a few days ago, reflecting on his miserable start and dramatic turnaround.
“Then [I] just get my job done and do everything I can, so every night when I go to bed I can say to myself, ‘I did everything I could to improve and to show myself the best way possible.’
Where would West Ham be NOW if Disasi had joined last summer? 🤔
Maybe survival would have been achieved already…
“Those questions I had to ask myself in that period, I’ve really learned to bring that along now when I’m playing, which has helped me a lot. It’s easy coming out of a tough period saying it was really good for me, but I really learned a lot from it.”
West Ham doubled the gap between themselves and 18th-place Tottenham with that hard-earned draw against Palace.
“We’ve been in this for many months,” Hermansen added. “The fear of where we might go is not easy to work with.
“But praise to everyone here at the club for keeping the spirits high and making us believe that we can turn it around.”
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