West Ham goalkeeper swap is on as £9m Mads Hermansen replacement waits in the wings

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Old-school swap deals are few and far between in modern football, with West Ham United’s signing of Tottenham Hotspur striker Bobby Zamora in exchange for Jermain Defoe the most recent example of a straight trade involving the Premier League outfit.

Back in 2004, Defoe exchanged the East of London for the North, with Zamora moving in the other direction.

West Ham had planned to include Jamie O’Hara as part of the arrangement too, according to the former Wolves and Portsmouth midfielder himself, but had to make do with just the one. And while Defoe would go on to become one of the Premier League’s most feared marksmen in Spurs, Zamora would have plenty of happy days himself in claret and blue.

So much so that, when it became apparent that Alan Curbishley was ready to move him on, Zamora had serious reservations about leaving for Fulham. Having fired West Ham United to the Premier League with a goal in the play-off final, and then helping them play out an the FA Cup classic with a Steven Gerrard-inspired Liverpool, the big striker’s fan favourite status was more than warranted.

Now, over two decades on from the summer in which Defoe and Zamora changed hands, could the Hammers find themselves at the centre of another, increasingly seldom-seen swap deal?

Hammers News have already been told that Mads Hermansen may be allowed to leave after only a few months and four Premier League appearances. And as links emerge with Lazio’s Christos Mandas, this is certainly one to watch heading into January.

West Ham United could potentially swap Mads Hermansen for Lazio’s Christos Mandas

La Lazio Siamo Noi reported in November that, alongside Bournemouth and Fiorentina, West Ham had made an enquiry about Mandas’ availability. Lazio are likely to listen to offer.

They were placed under a transfer ban last summer, and the Greek international is one of the players they would presumably prefer to cash in on. Mandas lost his place between the sticks, after all, since Maurizio Sarri returned and installed Ivan Provedel as his number one.

It has been a similar tale for Hermansen.

A player who started out as the first-choice, but now finds himself warming the bench. Nuno Espirito Santo quickly made Alphonse Areola his man after taking over from Graham Potter. A decision that has most certainly been justified.

Areola is in ‘incredible’ form right now. He has also played a big role in helping the Hammers overcome the set-piece issues which ruined Hermansen’s debut season at the London Stadium.

In an intriguing twist of fate, club insider ExWhuEmployee has since claimed that Hermansen is on the radar of none other than Lazio themselves.

Providing that the two clubs could reach a compromise on their asking prices – Mandas is reportedly valued at £9 million but West Ham paid double that to sign Hermansen from Leicester City – there may be a rather straightforward solution for both shot-stoppers.

Alphonse Areola wil start vs Manchester United as Hermansen rues Graham Potter exit

Ahead of West Ham’s trip to Old Trafford on Thursday – a stadium they have only won at once since Carlos Tevez’s final day heroics in 2007 – Nuno indicated that Areola will remain his number one for the foreseeable future.

“We have many quality goalkeepers here at the club, and all of them are working really well. Not only Alphonse but also Mads, Lukasz [Fabianski] and the young lad Finlay [Herrick],” the head coach said during his press conference on Tuesday.

“Alphonse is starting the games, and for sure I hope he continues performing and helping the team.”

While his performances were undoubtedly far from impressive, Mads Hermansen was not helped by Graham Potter’s departure. Or, indeed, the sudden exit of Casper Ankergren.

Former goalkeeping coach Ankergren worked closely with Hermansen at Brondby back home in his native Denmark, after all. He was therefore a driving force behind their eventual reunion in the English capital, only to make way following Potter’s sacking.

Hermansen lost both the manager who signed him, and the coach who believed in him so much only two months after putting pen to paper on a long-term contract.

“Now, I worked with [Ankergren] at Brondby, so of course we already had a relationship,” Hermansen told Danish publication Campo a few weeks ago. “We have always agreed a lot about the goalkeeping game and how we train and play matches.

“So it was clear that I was looking forward to working with him for a longer period of time and continuing to improve my skills. But unfortunately, things went the way they did.”