Star names Crysencio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen will be vital to West Ham’s hopes of avoiding relegation – but Mads Hermansen says one player has been key to the club even having the chance.

Rewind to the turn of the year and things looked grim for West Ham United.

The Hammers had thrown away the lead to lose 2-1 at home to relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, leaving them effectively eight points adrift of safety and 13 points behind Spurs.

Now, three months on, Nuno Espirito Santo’s side have reeled in the sides above them, leapfrogging bitter rivals Tottenham last weekend.

It is some turnaround.

Hermansen names West Ham star who is key to survival

And one player in particular is to thank for it according to zero to hero goalkeeper Mads Hermansen.

Without Crysencio Summerville’s goals and Jarrod Bowen’s goals and assists, West Ham would have no chance of staying in the Premier League.

How many points are we getting then? 😬

Feel free to tell me where I’m going wrong 😂

Mateus Fernandes has been brilliant in midfield, Tomas Soucek as reliable as ever and a number of others have drastically improved such as Konstantinos Mavropanos and Hermansen himself.

But Hermansen says West Ham have loan star Axel Disasi to thank for even having a chance of staying up.

They say never fall in love with a loan player – but try telling Hermansen and West Ham fans that when it comes to Chelsea-owned Disasi.

Discussing West Ham’s remarkable turnaround since January, the club’s number one named Disasi as the player he believes has helped knit everything together.

“I think we’ve been really good working on our relationships in between us, especially in the defensive lines, getting some structure and discipline in the way we want to defend,” Hermansen told West Ham’s website.

“We’ve been working really hard on that. It’s paid off, so it’s been great…

Disasi the real hero of West Ham’s turnaround says Hermansen

“It’s just his (Disasi’s) strength in the duels and his calmness on the ball. Axel is very good at bringing calmness to all of the players around him, so I think he’s been great to have come into the team.

“All of us together have looked really strong.”

DISCUSS: How much would you pay for Axel Disasi? 💷

Disasi has THREE years left on his Chelsea contract…

You’re right, although I wonder if Chelsea have shot themselves in the foot a bit by dumping him in the bomb squad last year. Everyone now knows they don’t want Disasi long-term, hopefully will drive down his price a bit

It was a case of third time lucky for West Ham when they landed Disasi on loan on deadline day in the winter window.

The Hammers missed out on the centre-back to Chelsea when he left Monaco and the player snubbed a move to east London last season to join Villa instead.

The 28-year-old has made up for that and then some now, though, with his exceptional performances contributing to West Ham being the fifth best team in the Premier League since his arrival.

With stellar form comes the hope and expectation that West Ham will move heaven and earth to keep Disasi this summer.

That will of course be dependent on the east Londoners remaining in the top flight.

The Hammers can take a big step towards that when they take on Crystal Palace and Everton this week.