If there’s one area of the pitch that West Ham have seemingly always struggled with, it’s up front.
In recent years, the position has been a plague for the club, with recruitments either failing at the last minute or never meeting the expectations that came with the name.
Sébastien Haller was the latest of a long line that includes Didier Drogba, as explained by veteran scout Paul Montgomery.
Employed by the Hammers in the early 2000s, the talent spotter was keeping an eye on Guingamp’s Florent Malouda for the club, convinced the winger, who ended up starring at Chelsea, had what it takes to make it in the Premier League.
Travelling to watch the Ligue 1 side’s first three games of the 2002-03 campaign, he ended up noticing someone else.
He told Onze Mondial: “During the first game, a player comes on, he’s called Drogba. He plays for 15 minutes and stands out immediately. I check my files. I’d already written his name down when he was at Le Mans with a mention ‘to keep an eye on’. During the next game, Drogba comes on for 20 minutes. I liked what I saw. The third game, they play Lyon.
Montgomery then called someone he knew in France to ask him if he could get more information on the striker and how much the French side would want for him, knowing they’d signed him for a ‘handful of Euros’ from Le Mans.
He continues: “My contact asks me who Drogba is. I told him to stop asking questions and to get the information. In truth, the club were ready to accept €600k. I then pass on to the club that I want him in January. I went to the player’s house and knocked on his door to tell him he could be a great player in England”.
What happened after that? It ended up being the Hammers’ poor form that ended up costing them the chance at securing his services.
Montgomery explained: “I didn’t get him to the club. West Ham were relegated and he’d promised he would sign if they stayed in the Premier League. At the time, in January, West Ham were bottom. He told me that he’d just discovered the top flight and he didn’t want to come if it was to go back to a second-tier. He promised that if they stayed in the Premier League, he’d come”.
Unfortunately for everyone, the Hammers were relegated and Drogba ended up signing for Marseille, with ‘the rest being history’, as Montgomery puts it.
The now retired Ivory Coast star ended up scoring 164 goals and assisting another 86 for Chelsea in 381 appearances, making him one of the club’s all time top scorers, ranked fourth behind Frank Lampard, Bobby Tambling and Kerry Dixon.
