West Ham foolishly missed 'exceptional' Stoke City transfer this summer - opinion

West Ham manager Graham Potter made the signing of a new goalkeeper a priority this summer and there were no shortage of shot-stoppers linked with a move to the London Stadium.

Alphonse Areola had held down the number one spot over the early months of Potter’s tenure but there had always been questions over his status as first choice. Veteran Lukasz Fabianski had also left West Ham this summer, highlighting the need for a new recruit.

Former Arsenal and Southampton man Aaron Ramsdale had emerged as an early target before his move to Newcastle United with Botafogo star John Victor also linked following his Club World Cup campaign, but the Brazilian eventually moved to Nottingham Forest.

West Ham suffer goalkeeping conundrum at start of season

West Ham decided to splurge £20 million on Leicester City man Mads Hermansen in a move which was criticised by pundits given that the Foxes had just been relegated with the 25-year-old in goal. Nonetheless, Hermansen was thrust straight into action over Areola by Potter but heavy defeats to Sunderland and Chelsea proved a nightmare start.

It put the Hammers in a goalkeeping crisis and led to the somewhat farcical re-signing of 40-year-old Fabianski. Areola was then returned to the starting XI against Crystal Palace in somewhat of a circus between the sticks.

While this has all been happening, Stoke City goalkeeper Viktor Johansson has been impressing in the Championship. Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano had claimed that the Hammers were monitoring a move for the player in August and the Premier League club could live to regret not pushing harder for that - especially with the claim that Stoke City were willing to sell.

Hammers live to regret missed Stoke City transfer

BBC reporter Charlotte Richardson labelled Johansson as ‘exceptional’ during their impressive win over Southampton last month, both in his shot-stopping abilities and vision when playing out from the back. This weekend, against QPR, Johansson impressed again.

The 27-year-old’s Stoke City side were beaten 1-0 by QPR but the scoreline would have been much worse without Johansson. In the second half, he made an acrobatic leap to push away a stunning Harvey Vale strike and was down in rapid time just moments later to stop Rumarn Burrell from scoring what looked to be a certain goal when one vs one.

Johansson boasts a reliability that West Ham could really have done with this season. It’s not all that big of a surprise either. Speaking as transfer rumours circled last month, Potters boss Mark Robins said: “He [Viktor Johansson] was really good, I thought he was brilliant in every element of his game. I thought he was outstanding, he is outstanding. You’ve got to try to keep your best players and he’s certainly one of those, one of the best in the division. I’m going to shut up now because there’s still a few days left in the window.”

In other news, 'Amazing': Graham Potter has already praised potential West Ham successor.