If ever you needed an example of why you should never give up, then former West Ham striker Sebastien Haller is it.
The Frenchman’s €40m+ move to the London stadium in 2019 was one many were excited about, given the form he had shown in Germany with Eintracht Frankfurt in the two years previous.
Things simply didn’t work out in London for him, though, with 14 goals and three assists in 54 games nowhere near good value for money.
That’s why when West Ham elected to sell to Ajax for €22.5m in January this year; nobody really batted an eyelid.
Hindsight is a wonderful and dangerous thing, though, and it seems Ajax came out better in the move in the end.
Haller has been nothing short of wonderful since his return to the Netherlands, and this season, in particular, has seen him flourishing.
His tally so far this season stands at 12 goals and three assists in 13 games, with the latest a double in the 4-0 win over Borussia Dortmund, and everyone is impressed.
None more so than Het Parool journalist Henk Spaan, who covers the striker today and has nothing but praise for him.
He says Haller showed ‘with dignity’ how he could ‘hold his own at a high level’ against the German side, with him now having scored eight of Ajax’s 11 goals in the competition.
He’s ‘unflappable’ in front of goal and the journalist even believes that he is now ‘probably Overmars’ best acquisition ever.’
That’s some going given Ajax have signed players such as Andre Onana, Arkadiusz Milik, Hakim Ziyech, Davinson Sanchez and Daley Blind during his time in charge.
Indeed it’s an impressive turnaround from Haller, who is now looking like an absolute steal and showing that failure at West Ham is not the start of a steep decline but rather the beginning of something even better.
