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Don Hutchison compares West Ham new boy Haller to Kanoute

Tom Procter

Tue 23 July 2019 20:15, UK

West🅘 Ham United fans are still pinching themselves over the fact that the club have siꦿgned Sebastien Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt.

The ace seale🅷d a £45 million transfer () to ease the club’s attacking concerns heading into the new season following the departures of Andy Carroll, Marko Arnautovic and Lucas Perez.

Haller enjoyed a fruitful 2018/19 by scoring 20 goals ♎in all competitions alongside prolific partner Luka Jovic, who himself earned a transfer to Real Madrid.

There is considerable hype about⭕ what French ace Haller can bring to Manuel Pellegrini’s side.

Former playerDon Hutchison – who had two spells with the Hammers (1994-96 and 2001-05) – reckons the striker is reminiscent of o🧜ne of the club’s better strikers of yesteryear.

He to🌱ld BBC Radio 5 Live (): “He’s a very, very good player. I don’t think he’s the type of player that West Ham fans think he’s going to be.

“I don’t think he’s a 20 goal plus striker. He’s more like a Fredi Kanoute, who very physical, very talented, very la💙id back and very casual. But he’s got so much ability.”

TBR’s view

Hutchison’s assessment is interesting, as many are♛ expecting Haller to be a pure goal-getter given his exploits in Germany.

If Haller is anything like Kanoute, then he’ll be a great team player, with💟 the former🤡 Mali international serving as a great partner for Paolo Di Canio.

Perhaps his hold-up play is something that Javier Hernandez could benefit from, with the Mexican known as a fox-🐠in-the-box kind of striker.