West Ham sign £40m Sebastien Haller… but can Frankfurt star end their striker curse?
WEST HAM have finally ended their hunt for a striker by landing Eintracht Frankfurt star Sebastien Haller.
But it remains to be seen if the £40million Frenchman can solve their woes in attack.
Frankfurt confirmed that Haller was travelling to London for a medical after terms were agreed on what will be a record signing for the Hammers - eclipsing the £36m paid for Felipe Anderson.
Haller starred for Frankfurt as they reached the Europa League semi-finals last term, forming a dangerous partnership with now-Real Madrid star Luka Jovic.
The former Utrecht ace, 25, netted 32 goals in 75 appearances in a supporting role.
But the potential is there for Haller’s ratio to increase dramatically as he looks to lead the line as Manuel Pellegrini’s sole forward.
West Ham fans will certainly be desperate for the hitman to succeed after going through an incredible 38 strikers since David Gold and David Sullivan’s takeover in January 2010.
Between all 38, they have only managed to score 203 in 957 matches.
That works out at a ratio of 4.71 games per goal.
By comparison, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored 465 goals in 466 appearances during that time.
While Lionel Messi has netted 502 times in just 499 games.
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Even Spurs star Harry Kane, who was 16 when D&G took over at Upton Park, has netted just 23 goals less since then – and it’s only taken him a third of the matches to do so.
And the pressure will be on Haller to finally get the Hammers firing up front.
His arrival comes after Lucas Perez, Marko Arnautovic and Andy Carroll left earlier this summer.