West Ham irked by delay to Haller deal
Record £45m agreed but representative stalls Carroll training at club despite end of contract
West Ham United will know within the next 24 hours whether they have successfully signed Sebastien Haller for a club record fee of £45 million.
Negotiations hit an impasse yesterday after an attempt by a representative of the French striker to change the terms of his four-year contract. This caused frustration at West Ham, who believed they had agreed a deal with Haller’s club, Eintracht Frankfurt, and the 25-year-old over personal terms.
Haller flew to London for a medical and with West Ham hoping to quickly push through a deal, knowing that other clubs, including one competing in the Champions League, were interested.
West Ham remain confident the move will happen, given Haller’s desire to join them, but there is annoyance at the hold-up. Frankfurt have officially confirmed the deal has been agreed but, as of last night, negotiations were continuing with the player’s representatives.
Haller, who joined Eintracht from Dutch club Utrecht and was a France Under-21 international, is 6ft 3in and is regarded as a traditional No 9. He helped his team reach the Europa League semi-finals, where they were knocked out by Chelsea. Although attention has on the exploits of his now former strike partner, Luka Jovic, who has joined Real Madrid, Haller outscored him in the Bundesliga last season. Haller scored 15 goals with nine assists in just 23 starts in the league last term.
Signing Haller would be a significant boost for West Ham, who have been in the market for a centre-forward with Javier Hernandez having struggled and with Andy Carroll allowed to leave after his contract expired – although he is back training with the club.
Lucas Perez has also left having failed to impress after joining from Arsenal.
The sale of Marko Arnautovic to Chinese club Shanghai SIPG for £22.4 million has raised the pressure on manager Manuel Pellegrini to add to his forward options after West Ham missed out on Maxi Gomez, who joined Valencia.
The fee for Haller beats the £35 million, rising to £42 million with add-ons, that West Ham paid Lazio for Brazilian winger Felipe Anderson last summer.
If Haller signs he will become the third player to move to the London Stadium this summer following the arrival of midfielder Pablo Fornals and goalkeeper Roberto.
Meanwhile, West Ham have sold defender Sam Byram to promoted Norwich City for £750,000.