Bitter Sweet Day As Hammers Lose Match But Win Transfer

West Ham United's spirited but unsuccessful match against Premier League champions Manchester City ended in a 4-1 defeat, City's full strength team showed exactly why they are the Champions, but if lady luck had been smiling the score line would have been a much more respectable 4-3.

The match, played out in sweltering conditions, did have several positives for the Hammers, as well as a few negatives. The positives being Jack Wilshere managing to avoid any injury issues, and a really cohesive first half performance, the negatives being Carlos Sanchez who is always one step away from a dangerously conceded foul or a really poor pass straight to the opposition, he must have 'Ju JU' over El Pel and the Huse!

The only other real negative from what was a really good 'warm up' match for the Irons was Chicharito, Javier Hernandez did his usual stuff, the occasional piece of positional brilliance matched by a woeful work rate, he spent much of his second half appearance blaming the entire world for his performance and inability to find the back of the net, ineffectual he was.

The consequences of this defeat are somewhat if not entirely nullified by the club's confirmation that a top quality 'proper' striker has finally arrived at the London Stadium, not on the back of an ambulance, as is normally the case, but on the back of an incredibly successful season in the Bundesliga. Eintracht Frankfurt's Sebastian Haller has completed his move to West Ham United by signing a five year contract with the option of a club enacted extra year extension.

The deal for Haller means the Hammers have broken their transfer record for a third time in a little over a year following the captures of Issa Diop and Felipe Anderson. A German Cup winner with Eintracht in 2018, Haller becomes the Irons’ fourth summer signing and had this to say to the O/S. "I feel really great, I think it’s a really good opportunity for me to be here, it means a lot (to be the record signing). It proves that the club [has] really wanted me for a long time. I felt this desire to sign me and I’m really happy to sign, also. it is an ambitious club, a nice club, a nice city and nice fans too. For me I can guarantee that I will give 100% for the club because the club has given me this confidence and I will try to give it back every day in every game. I will always give 100% and respect the club. I think this is a normal thing and that I can guarantee. I know it’s a big transfer and there is a lot of expectation around me, and I just want to make people proud of this transfer and I will give everything I have."

The completion of the Haller deal will come as a massive relief to Hammers fans who had seen their hopes of signing a top striker dashed when the Maxi Gomez deal failed to materialise, but the club have fallen on their feet when it comes to Sebastian Haller. The rumoured £45 Million price including add ons is a bit rich, but if you want to dine at the top table you have to pay top dollar. In Haller the club have themselves a 'proper bruiser' of a striker who is not going to race home to mummy when some central defender runs his studs down the back of the player's calf.

Some sceptics may say that Haller is only viewing West Ham as a spring board to better things, but with the exception of Manchester City and one or two other clubs in the World that players join, that will always be the case. If Haller rips it up in the Barclays Premier League he will have no shortage of suitors wishing to sign him, so what is wrong with West Ham keeping him for a couple of seasons and then maybe selling him on for a huge profit?

Like we said, it is the way of the footballing world, better to embrace it rather than have the game pass the club by, and isn't it about time West Ham United started to make a few quid on transfers instead of always losing?

Haller along with fellow new signing Pablo Fornals will join up with the rest of the squad following the Asia Cup trophy matches. These could be genuinely exciting times ahead for Hammers fans, real hope instead of the usual smoke an mirrors of the past decades. - Ed

Director of Football Mario Husillos said: “We are very pleased to welcome Sebastien and his family to West Ham United.

“It is no secret that we have been in the process of identifying a top class striker to add to the squad this summer, and much work has gone on behind the scenes to ensure that we were in a position to act once the right opportunity became available.

“Sebastien is a player we have been watching closely for some time - he has always been a key target and someone who myself, Manuel Pellegrini and David Sullivan were very keen to bring to the football club.

“He is a player with excellent pedigree and experience in three of Europe’s top leagues. His record at Eintracht Frankfurt in recent seasons has been up there with the top strikers in the Bundesliga, and we believe that his physical and technical qualities will be well suited to the Premier League.

“He is at the perfect moment for us, like many of the players who have arrived at the club in the past 12 months - young, with his best years still ahead of him, yet with good experience and proven at the highest level.