Eintracht Frankfurt sold star striker to Premier League club for record fee – but he soon left as a ‘lamp post’

Hugo Ekitike’s Liverpool swap might go one in every of two methods, as West Ham know all too effectively.

The previous Eintracht Frankfurt striker has arrived within the Premier League with loads of expectation because the Reds forked out a large £79million regardless of only one strong season in Germany.

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And as historical past tells us, shopping for from Frankfurt tends to be both genius or a catastrophe, with not a lot house in between.

The Bundesliga facet have labored wonders within the switch market lately, notably up entrance, the place the likes of Luka Jovic, Randal Kolo Muani and Andre Silva have been purchased for pennies, scored buckets of objectives, after which been offered for a fortune.

Most of the time, shopping for sides have been left effectively brief in terms of worth for cash, with one of many worst examples being the final English facet to spend massive in Germany’s monetary hub.

In 2019, West Ham plotted an audacious try and lastly finish their long-time striker curse, and have been met with little friction after they obliterated their membership report switch payment with a £44m supply for Frankfurt’s Sebastien Haller.

The London membership had turn out to be a career-ender for goalscorers, with effectively over £200m spent on forwards in the course of the Gold & Sullivan period, just for Mark Noble to outscore all of them.

But with Haller, it appeared to make some sense, spend massive, certain, however no less than finish the membership’s largest drawback for good.

The French-born Ivory Coast striker had simply come off two equally spectacular seasons in Frankfurt, combining up entrance with Serbian Luka Jovic to kind one in every of Europe’s greatest goalscoring duos.

The 2017/18 season introduced the membership’s first silverware in 30 years with the DFB Pokal, and the next marketing campaign they practically went all the way in which within the Europa League, falling on the semi-finals.

Via all of it, Haller not solely notched 33 objectives, however crucially equipped 16 assists, as he seemed to be the all-round striker who couldn’t solely rating, however present and make his staff play higher.

All of that mixed along with his splendid age of 25 and spectacular construct at 6ft 3in, the previous Utrecht man appeared function constructed for the travails of Premier League soccer.

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What occurred to Sebastien Haller at West Ham?

The early indicators weren’t dangerous both, Haller netted twice towards Watford in his second recreation, and after eight video games had a report of 4 objectives and an help, maybe not £44m value of manufacturing, however sufficient to maintain the stress off nonetheless.

But beneath the person who signed him, Manuel Pellegrini, issues not solely dropped off for Haller, however the entire staff, ensuing within the Chilean’s sacking in December.

In got here David Moyes to finish the season, and Haller would rating simply two extra instances, with the Scott shifting him to the bench for the run-in, favouring transformed winger/full-back Michail Antonio.

Hope wasn’t over, although, as Haller began the next season in even higher kind than the final, scoring 5 in 5 to lift hopes the striker curse was lastly over.

But as issues once more dropped off, so did Moyes’ religion, and it quickly grew to become clear that the participant and supervisor simply weren’t a match.

A suggestion of £18m from Ajax got here in in the course of the January window, and Moyes lower his losses, however was quickly left with egg on his face.

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Was Sebastien Haller successful at Ajax?

Haller grew to become the quickest participant within the Champions League’s historical past to succeed in ten objectives, doing so in simply six video games, and the verdicts have been in how West Ham’s report signing solely lasted 18 months.

Ajax influencer TheEuropeanLad instructed talkSPORT: “At West Ham he was extra like a lamp submit, they simply put him up entrance and so they put him on an island and so they threw lengthy balls at him.

“That doesn’t work with him as a result of he doesn’t have the technical capacity to do something far-off from the aim, he can’t dribble effectively, he’s not very quick, he has no expertise.

“So what must occur is you have to construct a staff round him with a number of motion and plenty of depth on the wings, and also you want a artistic No. 10 behind him.

“And once you try this a whole lot of house opens up and he’ll get his possibilities each recreation and he’s a great finisher, that’s a great side, he’ll end possibilities.

“That’s the massive distinction with West Ham, as a result of over there he wasn’t used like that and that’s the explanation he’s so profitable at Ajax, as a result of we’ve a really artistic and attacking staff, and as a striker that’s simply heaven as a result of you’ll get so many possibilities each recreation.”

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Former Netherlands and Ajax winger Johnny Rep had an analogous view of his West Ham failures.

The 42-cap Holland worldwide stated: “I feel he was a bit costly. He has already scored a number of objectives and given assists.

“However I don’t assume he’s a world XI footballer both.

“He suits in [at Ajax]I feel, as a result of there are all these little males working round.

“Then it’s good if there’s additionally a tree of a man in between who can typically head in a ball.”

Haller didn’t simply head in a ball, he put away 47 efforts in simply 66 video games, sufficient for Ajax to win two Eredivisie titles and pocket £30million from Borussia Dortmund, turning one in every of West Ham’s worst buys into one of many Amsterdam outfit’s greatest.

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Issues didn’t work out at Dortmund resulting from a shock testicular most cancers prognosis, from which Haller has fortunately now totally recovered and later grew to become his nation’s hero on the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations.

But whether or not it’s Haller, Jovic, Silva, Kolo Muani, or Ante Rebic, shopping for massive from Frankfurt actually isn’t a assure of success, even with Liverpool’s worries undoubtedly soothed by Omar Marmoush’s begin at Manchester Metropolis.