It is fair to say that Graham Potter enjoyed very little success alongside Mads Hermansen following the Dane’s £18 million transfer from Leicester City to West Ham United.
The man sacked by the Hammers in late-September, then, can only hope for better as he prepares to get to work with another Scandinavian shot-stopper.
The irony, of course, is that the goalkeeper whose performances contributed to Graham Potter’s departure was one the new Sweden boss pushed so hard for over the summer.
Chief football correspondent Graeme Bailey told Hammers News at the time that West Ham elected for Mads Hermansen over a variety of other options. Once his transfer was completed in early August, The ex-Leicester glovesman highlighted his apparent suitability to a Potter-led side, having putting pen to paper on a five-year contract.
A goalkeeper comfortable with the ball at his feet, it was felt, would fit in nicely alongside a coach who valued possession.
Unfortunately for Potter, Hermansen was not quite so comfortable when it came to keeping the ball out of his net. Shot-stopping, in contrast, is the area where Stoke City’s Viktor Johansson really excels.
Stoke City – and Sweden’s – Viktor Johansson, more specifically.
Graham Potter now gets Viktor Johansson after signing Mads Hermansen for West Ham United
According to Fabrizio Romano, at the beginning of August, West Ham thought about making a move for Johansson. That was before they agreed terms with the Potters’ Championship rivals Leicester instead.
Now, in an ironic twist, Potter will get the chance to work with Johansson in the Sweden dugout, while his West Ham successor Nuno Espirito Santo lumbers along with Alphonse Areola and the already out-of-favour Mads Hermansen to pick from.
On a weekend in which Hermansen watched from the bench as Areola palmed the ball directly into Brendan Aaronson’s path – Nuno looked a beaten man at Elland Road when Leeds consigned the Hammers to a seventh defeat in nine Premier League matches – Stoke’s talismanic number one gave a boost to his own top-flight credentials.
Johansson has been arguably the finest, most heroic goalkeeper in the Championship for a couple of seasons now.
The ‘deadly’ Sorba Thomas continues to inspire Stoke at one end – the former West Ham starlet assisted Saturday’s late winner at Portsmouth – but it was Johansson’s trademark brilliance at the other which ensured Mark Robins’ side remain within seven points of leaders Coventry.
“[Portsmouth] came out in the second half to put us under a lot of pressure to start with, but we also put ourselves under pressure with a lot of strange decisions,” Robins told BBC Radio Stoke after seeing Johansson deny Mackenzie Kirk at point-blank range when the score was still goalless.
“[Fortunately], we had a brilliant goalkeeper who made a great save.”
“[His] astounding shot-stopping kept Portsmouth at bay. It felt like it was kind of Mackenzie Kirk against Viktor Johansson, with Johansson coming out on top,” EFL expert Ali Maxwell told the Not the Top 20 podcast.
“Kirk drew that amazing save out of Johansson.”
Johansson is inspiring Stoke City’s Championship promotion charge
While Nuno picked up where Potter left off by electing to pick Areola over Hermansen, Johansson has been in ‘stunning’ Stoke City form all season long, barring a very rare mistake against West Brom.
He ranks third in the Championship for saves made, and second for save percentage.
He is unsurprisingly top of the ‘Expected Goals’ charts too. Johansson has prevented Stoke from conceding a further 4.6 goals this season already, per The Analyst.
So while Mads Hermansen’s 2026 World Cup dream may go unrequited – his hopes of ousting Kasper Schmeichel are next-to zero as long as he remains glued to the West Ham bench – do not be surprised to see Viktor Johansson establish himself as one of the first names on Graham Potter’s Sweden team sheet.
