New West Ham forward Sebastien Haller has “immense strength”, according to Football.London journalist Sam Inkersole.
The 25-year-old made his bow for the Hammers in Saturday’s 1-0 preseason win over Fulham, and even though he didn’t score, Inkersole was still suitably impressed by what he saw.
Writing in a piece for Football.London, he said: “Haller has immense strength and is a physically imposing frontman – [Maxime] Le Marchand and even more so Alfie Mawson had no answer for the striker.
“The latter was resorting to having to pull the striker down by his shirt just to get anywhere near him and did just that midway through the first half.”
OPINION
This is exactly what West Ham fans will have wanted to hear. In an ideal world, Haller would have liked to bag a goal or two on his first outing in claret and blue, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter too greatly that he didn’t. Yes, the Frenchman has been bought primarily as a goalscorer, but the hope will be from the Hammers that he can be so much more than that. His average of 6.9 aerial duels won per match last season [Whoscored] proves just how much a handful he can be, and if the big forward can bring even a portion of that physicality to the Premier League he will be a success. His 15 goals for Eintracht Frankfurt last term also illustrates that he knows where the back of the net is too though, and if he keeps up the level of performances he showed on Saturday, it is only a matter of time before he starts banging in the goals.
