Hammers opt for Mads man in goal

West Ham's offer of £18 million has been accepted by Leicester City for goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. The club were said to be about to sign John Victor from Botafogo, though clearly you don't get many Victors at West Ham. The Hammers are opting for a few years of living Danishly with Lucasz Fabianski gone and Hermansen always appeared to be Potter's first choice. He will surely challenge and possibly replace Alphonse Areola. 

Hermansen certainly had a fine game when Leicester beat West Ham 3-1 in Ruud Van Nistelrooy's first game in charge, making great saves from Bowen and Kudus (but then every new signing has invariably done well against us). Mads got plenty of practice with Leicester as they went down with a whimper, but still managed to look a decent keeper. He also played in their Championship winning side. At 25 he's a good age for a goalkeeper and is thought to be better with his feet than the Fonz. 

Meanwhile Michail Antonio has been released, which always seemed inevitable. He was a fading force even before his terrible car crash and it seems unlikely he'll play at the top level again, though it would be nice to see him retained at the club in some other role. Still, we'll always have those carpet-stroking goal celebrations. Antonio at his best was at times unplayable and has been at West Ham since the Bilic season at Upton Park when we finished seventh. He played with the enthusiasm of a man who'd come up from non-league football and really blossomed as a converted striker under David Moyes. No-one ever knew quite what he'd do next, including both fans and defenders. Micky will be missed.