Why Chelsea have hired temporary new goalkeeper coach to help Robert Sanchez | OneFootball

Chelsea have hired former West Ham goalkeeping coach Casper Ankergren in a temporary role until the end of the season, according to reports.

Based on the report from the Daily Mail, Chelsea decided to bring in Ankergren to provide cover in their goalkeeping coaching department amid a member of staff's recovery period post-surgery.

Ankergren has reunited with Chelsea's head of global goalkeeping, Ben Roberts, with whom the former has previously worked at Brighton as a coach following his retirement as a player in 2017.

The former Leeds United goalkeeper was recently part of Graham Potter's backroom staff at West Ham as a goalkeeping coach. This only lasted until Potter's sacking in September.

IMAGO / Gonzales Photo

Ankergren admitted that he had missed his work as a coach, and when Chelsea came with an offer, he agreed without hesitation.

"It's been strange not to be doing what I love for the past five months," he told Danish outlet Bold in a recent interview.

"So when the opportunity in Chelsea signed up, I had no doubt that it was something I would like to try."

Aside from his relationship with Roberts, Ankergren should also be familiar with Blues head coach Liam Rosenior, with whom he was teammates at Brighton.

IMAGO / Focus Images

The 46-year-old will help out with training Chelsea first-team goalkeepers Robert Sanchez, his compatriot Filip Jorgensen, as well as Teddy Sharman-Lowe and Gabriel Slonina.

His arrival can hopefully improve the recent dip in Chelsea's goalkeeping performance.

The Blues have not kept a clean sheet in their last six Premier League games, having conceded nine goals in this period.

As a result, previously ranked second in clean sheets in the Premier League, Sanchez has now dropped to fourth in the list with nine clean sheets, four behind Arsenal's David Raya.