The Athletic reporter Roshane Thomas has aired his belief that West Ham United will give Sebastien Haller another chance next season.
Haller’s arrival at the London Stadium from Eintracht Frankfurt was sealed last summer for £45m, which was a club-record transfer fee for the Irons (per BBC).
During his first season of Premier League football, though, the striker has netted just seven goals in 31 league appearances (per Transfermarkt).
However, in the latest episode of The Athletic’s U Irons podcast, Thomas aired his belief that Haller will be given another chance to impress next season.
He said: “I can see the board giving him another chance for the simple fact they paid so much money to bring him to the club. £45m, that’s a lot of money. So, they’ll perhaps look at it thinking, ‘Let’s give him one more year. Let’s try and at least get some sort of return on our investment.’
“As you mentioned, he’s struggled a lot this season and West Ham quite often play one striker up top. We’ve seen the benefit of playing [Michail] Antonio in that position because he’s got pace.
“He can give defenders a hard time, but with Haller, he’s limited – he doesn’t have pace, he’s good in the air, a good aerial threat, but I saw someone tweet yesterday about when he came on [against Manchester United], it felt like West Ham were down to 10 men. You can see that to an extent.
“So, I’d sort of be on the fence and say give him one more year, but I can see why people will be like, ‘Let’s cut our losses and get rid of him.'”
TIF Thoughts…
As can be seen in what the journalist had to say, he clearly believes that the Irons will be giving Haller another chance next season but could understand why fans would not want them to.
Do you believe that West Ham should give Sebastien Haller another chance next season?
No, he's not good enough
Yes, they should do
Despite the criticism, the French forward has still picked up a respectable 7.10/10 average rating in the Premier League this season (per WhoScored).
So, perhaps the forward may be more deserving of another season to prove himself than some supporters would believe.