Sebastian Haller Photo credit: Sky Sports

With his current club, Eintracht Frankfurt, confirming a deal has been agreed which will see Sebastien Haller join West Ham United subject to passing a medical, it begs the question – Who is he and why is he worth his reported £45m price tag?

Born in france in 1994, 25 year old Sebastien Haller begun his youth career with F.C.O. Vigneux. From there he transferred to the youth team of another relatively unknown team called Brétigny Foot but it wasn’t long before he caught the attention of a slightly better known club.

In 2007, current Ligue 2 club AJ Auxerre took Haller into their Academy. Scoring 29 goals in the 57 appearances he had made in his first 2 seasons with Auxerre II, they wasted no time in promoting him to their first team. Though his scoring record of 6 in 50 for the first team was much less prolific it is important to note that he was just 18 at the time.

Taking age and ability into account, AJ made the decision to loan Haller out to Dutch side FC Ultrecht for the second half of the 2014/15 season. During this short spell the Frenchman scored 11 goals in just 17 appearances, that’s 1.55 GPG. Impressive, right? That’s why it was considered a no brainer when Ultrecht announced they had signed Haller on a permanent basis following the completion of the successful loan deal.

Haller continued to play for Ultrecht for two more seasons between 2015 and 2017 and his impressive goal scoring record for the club wasn’t let down. 65 appearances later and another 30 goals netted from the 6’3 striker he continued to move up the ladder in his footballing career. Signing for Eintracht Frankfurt in 2017.

Signing for the German club for an impressively cheap £7m, Haller ensured Eintracht would make a return on their investment. It seems the confidence and skills he had gained over the previous few seasons would not disappear even in a more competitive league as Haller took the german league by storm with 24 goals in 60 appearances.

Now, on the brink of a West Ham move, Haller looks to continue his prolific goalscoring in what many consider to be the best league in the world. Take a look at the video below for some of Hallers best goals and assists, to get an even better understanding of the type of player West Ham can expect to see.

Name	Sébastien Haller
Age	25
Current Club	Eintracht Frankfurt
Career Apps	249
Career Goals	100
Nationality	French
Height	6’3
Value (According to TransferMarkt)	£40.00m

So, are we getting value for money with Haller? Does our £45m outlay represent a good deal? I think in a transfer market which sees the likes of Lewis Dunk tranferring for an equal amount to that and Harry Maguire becoming the most expensive defender in the world, £45m for a proven goalscorer aged just 25 seems a no brainer.

Let me know your thoughts by tweeting me @WHUFCBilly.