Ajax have successfully completed the signing of Sebastian Haller from West Ham United for a fee worth £22 million. The player only arrived in London in 2019 and has been the subject of brutal criticism from fans of the Premier League, as well as of the club.
The reasons behind the player’s move back to the Netherlands have now been revealed by Hammers boss David Moyes. Here is what he had to say:
‘I think that the Seb Haller situation was simply that we got an offer, we didn’t expect it, we weren’t planning to lose Seb this window,’ Moyes said.
‘He’s done great for us, he’s won a few games recently with his goals, so we wish him well.
‘I think it’s a really good move for him to go to Ajax and it was something which maybe if we didn’t take this offer now maybe we would not have got it at a later stage, so we just felt it was the right thing to do. But it certainly wasn’t planned.’
Ajax are serial winners in the Eredivisie, and a few years away from the spotlight of the Premier League, and the nurturing environment of the Johan Cruyff Arena could bring out the best in Haller once more.
The likes of Eddie Nketiah, Olivier Giroud and Josh King have all been linked with replacing Haller at the London Stadium. Both Giroud’s and King’s contracts expire at the end of the current season, and either could be a vital signing for the Hammers to supplement Michail Antonio up front.
