Haller promising but must convince managers he is worth the cost

Fantasy Premier League managers may want to wait to see how Sébastien Haller (£7.5m) settles in at West Ham before flocking to sign him.

There is certainly promise about the striker but as a newcomer to the English game, he might take some time to adapt.

The Hammers broke their transfer record to sign him from Eintracht Frankfurt for a fee believed to be in the region of £45m.

Haller, 25, had been with Eintracht since 2017, where he played a starring role for Adi Hütter’s side as they finished seventh in the Bundesliga to qualify for Europa League football in the upcoming 2019/20 campaign.

The Frenchman, who has been capped 20 times by his country’s Under-21 side, arrives in East London amidst considerable anticipation with the Hammers’ fanbase eager to see a clinical, goalscoring forward make their mark in Manuel Pellegrini’s second season in charge.

After scoring 15 goals and registering nine assists in 29 league matches in his final season with Eintracht, Haller arrives in the Premier League with a fearsome reputation that has played a considerable part in the £45m fee that he has reportedly commanded.

Yet it is the 25-year-old’s price in FPL (£7.5m) that has got managers talking, as Haller’s credentials as a mid-priced forward come under considerable scrutiny despite his impressive final season in the Bundesliga.

The starting striker berth has remained one of complication and inconsistency for owners David Sullivan and David Gold for at least the last five years for the Hammers, with marquee striker signings either failing to fulfil their promise and potential, spending an extended spell on the treatment table or even most recently having their heads turned with lucrative, eye-catching offers from the Chinese Super League in the East.

But for Haller, the time to prove his worth in the Premier League has arrived in 2019/20, as the Hammers bid to finish in the top-ten and re-assert their relevance as outsiders for European qualification.

Upon signing for the club, Haller spoke of his pride at becoming the Hammer’s record signing:

“It means a lot (to be the record signing). It proves that the club [has] really wanted me for a long time. I felt this desire to sign me and I’m really happy to sign, also. it is an ambitious club, a nice club, a nice city and nice fans too. For me, I can guarantee that I will give 100% for the club because the club has given me this confidence and I will try to give it back every day in every game. I will always give 100% and respect the club. I think this is a normal thing and that I can guarantee. I know it’s a big transfer and there is a lot of expectation around me, and I just want to make people proud of this transfer and I will give everything I have.” – Sébastien Haller

West Ham’s director of football Mario Husillos also spoke positively after confirming the arrival of Haller:

“We are very pleased to welcome Sébastien and his family to West Ham United. It is no secret that we have been in the process of identifying a top class striker to add to the squad this summer, and much work has gone on behind the scenes to ensure that we were in a position to act once the right opportunity became available. Sébastien is a player we have been watching closely for some time – he has always been a key target and someone who myself, Manuel Pellegrini and David Sullivan were very keen to bring to the football club. He is a player with excellent pedigree and experience in three of Europe’s top leagues. His record at Eintracht Frankfurt in recent seasons has been up there with the top strikers in the Bundesliga, and we believe that his physical and technical qualities will be well suited to the Premier League.”

The History and Statistics

The rise of Haller over the last three seasons has been nothing short of meteoric, with the Frenchman catapulting his career trajectory into new, unchartered territory for a player with just two seasons of football in Europe’s top five leagues.

Having commenced his youth career in the lower leagues of French football with F.C.O. Vigneux and Brétigny Foot, Haller joined Auxerre in 2007 as a 13-year-old with a dream. For five years, the Frenchman battled through the youth ranks with the club who would eventually give him his professional debut just five years later.

Haller made his first senior appearances for Auxerre’s reserves, where he excelled and scored 29 goals in 57 appearances across two seasons, whilst also appearing for the first-team across a three year period where he struggled to replicate his initial goalscoring consistency – scoring six times in 50 appearances for the club.

A loan spell to FT Utrecht followed after falling out of favour with his boyhood club, yet whilst the striker may have felt feelings of devastation at the club’s decision to loan him out, it would ultimately prove to be the catalyst for his career’s upward ascent as he shone for Utrecht, scoring 11 goals in 17 appearances and winning the club’s Player of the Year award.

Utrecht were eager to tie Haller down on extended terms in the Eredivise, and secured his signature for a fee believed to be less than £1m in the summer of 2015. Whilst the club’s hierarchy would have been delighted at securing such a promising prospect for such a low fee, no-one, perhaps including Haller himself, could’ve foreseen the impact he would make across the next two seasons in the Dutch top-flight.

In his first two full seasons after permanently signing for the club, Haller scored 34 goals and registered 10 assists in 73 appearances for Utrecht, as the Ereverdise outfit’s faith was rewarded to an extreme extent after an outlay that is believed to have been in the region of £675,000.

A French Under-21 international posting such promising goalscoring figures will inevitably attract interest from Europe’s bigger clubs, and Haller’s profile as a 21-year-old combative target-man with a proven track-record was of serious interest to Eintracht Frankfurt, who signed the Frenchman for a fee of £6.3m.

It was with Frankfurt where Haller’s career reached new heights and the striker’s reputation extended its glistening appearance to the Premier League, after 24 goals across two seasons alerted West Ham United to a player that unquestionably represents a gamble at a fee of £45m, but who could excel for the Hammers with the improved service that the likes of Felipe Anderson (£7.0m) and perhaps new-signing Pablo Fornals (£6.5m) might provide.

The 2019/20 campaign is yet another step up for Haller, with a weight of expectation and scrutiny that the 25-year-old is likely to have never faced in his career to date. But if West Ham’s club-record signing can deliver on the promise and potential that has surrounded his arrival at the London Stadium, then Pellegrini could have acquired a striker with the calibre that the Hammers have yearned for in their attempts to establish the club in the top-ten of the Premier League.

Comparisons

The Prospects

West Ham United’s struggles in the striker’s department have been well documented over the last five seasons, but there is an understandable sense of optimism that Haller could be the man to break this duck in securing a consistent, goalscoring forward to lead the Hammers’ frontline.

The departure of Marko Arnautovic to Shanghai SIPG has opened up a starting berth in the West Ham XI, and Haller’s underlying statistics suggest he could have the potential to excel for Pellegrini’s side in his debut Premier League campaign.

Haller certainly ranks favourable for minutes per shot in the box compared to our selection of West Ham players in 2018/19. Registering one there every 54.5 minutes put him above many of his new colleagues, including Chicharito, Anderson and Fornals. The same goes for his 83.9 minutes per shot on target.

However, it is worth pointing out that Haller did come off as the worse of the two when compared with Arnautovic. The Austrian recorded better minutes per shot, minutes per shot in the box and minutes per shot on target last season, as well as superior minutes per chance created figure.

That could certainly indicate that Haller may, at first, struggle to quite match the Fantasy potential of his predecessor when fit, especially when we consider the extra £0.5m FPL have asked us to pay.

Furthermore, the usual caveat applies that these figures were recorded in the Bundesliga, and not the Premier League, yet the German top-flight’s quality, as well as experience in European competition, should provide Fantasy managers with a sense of assurance over Haller’s abilities as a forward for 2019/20.

Yet for all the hype that has surrounded the 25-year-old’s arrival in the Premier League, his FPL price of £7.5m could make the Frenchman a potentially difficult option for selection before the season has even started.

Level in price with last season’s star performer Raúl Jiménez (£7.5m) and just 0.5m below Callum Wilson (£8.0m), Haller is up against some of FPL’s top performers and a number of Fantasy favourites for managers with regards to forwards outside of the heavy hitters such as Sergio Aguero (£12.0m), Harry Kane (£11.0m) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£11.0m).

The obvious comparison that has been made with Haller is Jimenez given their identical £7.5m pricing, with the Mexican entering his second season with Wolves whilst Haller will be making his Premier League debut.

After scoring 13 goals and registering seven assists in 2018/19, Jimenez attained cult hero status in the Fantasy Premier League community, offering exceptional value and often earning points against some of the Premier League’s elite.

Therefore, owing to the direct price comparison, for those managers opting for a price structure that incorporates a £7.0m to £8.0m forward, the Jimenez vs Haller debate will be central to determining which striker, if either, warrants inclusion in your squad for the opening Gameweeks of 2019/20.

In directly comparing the two £7.5m priced forwards for 2019/20, the stats present an interesting picture that is worthy of deeper analysis. Jiménez ranks top for minutes per shot as well as minutes per shot in the box, but it is Haller who emerges the strongest of the two for minutes per shot on target and minutes per key pass.

Haller is certainly a more conservative shot-taker, having attempted 54 shots in his final Bundesliga campaign – a number that is dwarfed by Jimenez and his 111 shots, over double, in the Mexican’s debut Premier League season.

It becomes evident that Haller is taking a lot fewer shots than Jimenez which is a decisive factor in assessing the merits of these two forwards, but the Frenchman appears to more clinical as well as regularly providing more key passes for his teammates than the Wolves striker.

The debate of Jimenez vs Haller might take shape in the opening Gameweeks of 2019/20, but with the Mexican’s superior underlying stats as well as the fact he already has a season of Premier League football under his belt, it could be fair to say Haller is potentially overpriced at £7.5m ahead of his debut campaign in the English top-flight.

A particularly positive aspect of selecting Haller in your squad for 2019/20 will be an almost assured starting spot – the club have not shelled out £45m for a player to warm the bench – and this does give the selection of Haller an added element of assurance in your team.

The likes of Anderson and Fornals are also likely to provide increased goalscoring opportunities for the 6’3 forward, who had an aerial success rate of 59% in 2018/19 and scored four times from corners in his final season in the Bundesliga.

West Ham’s fixtures also present a dilemma for Fantasy managers. After facing Champions Manchester City on the opening day, the Hammers travel to Brighton and Watford before hosting Norwich in their first four fixtures. Games against Brighton, Watford and Norwich could prove appealing to Fantasy managers, but it would be difficult to justify selecting Haller for GW1 with the visit of City to the London Stadium.

The true viability of Haller as an asset in your squad for 2019/20 will become a far more informed debate when the Frenchman has got some minutes under his belt and his adaptability to the Premier League becomes clearer.

Yet for now, at a price of £7.5m and with such competitive counterparts in the same price bracket, the inclusion of Haller from the outset is a difficult one to justify for fantasy managers ahead of the 2019/20 campaign.

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