[ad_pod ]This article is part of Football FanCast’s Opinion series, which provides analysis, insight and opinion on any issue within the beautiful game, from Paul Pogba’s haircuts to League Two relegation battles…West Ham are poised to sign Sebastian Haller from Eintracht Frankfurt, the Bundesliga club have confirmed.
The Hammers have agreed a fee of £45m for the striker, which could rise to £50m depending on certain performance-related bonuses, per sources.
The news comes after Tuttosport reported that a bid worth €60m (£54.2m) had been tabled for Torino striker Andrea Belotti.
The Serie A club rejected the offer but one has to wonder: Is Haller the better option?
He is slightly cheaper, of course, but he scored 20 goals in all competitions last season.
Per Understat, he made 29 appearances in the Bundesliga, scoring 15 goals and registering nine assists.
He averaged 2.23 shots per 90, along with 1.57 key passes; that’s a pass leading to a shot.
His expected goals (xG) rate of 13.69 was outperformed, meaning that he took chances that he was not expected to. His expected assist (xA) rate of 7.37 was also outperformed, meaning that his team-mates were clinical when he gave them the ball.
He averaged an xG per 90 of 0.57, meaning he was expected to score in every other game in the German top-flight.
Belotti, meanwhile, scored 17 goals in all competitions and 15 in Serie A, the same as Haller. Per Understat, he registered three assists.
Watch West Ham United Live Streams With StreamFootball.tv Below
He averaged 3.40 shots per 90, along with 0.95 key passes.
While they scored the same amount of goals, Belotti had a higher xG rate than his number of actual strikes – 17.01 to 15 – meaning that he missed chances he should have scored, while he was also unable to turn provider. He averaged an xG per 90 of 0.46, which is significantly lower than Haller’s.
On the surface, the pair are similar but, scratch a little deeper, and one sees that Haller is a more potent, and more productive, option.
He regularly looks to bring others into play and is also a more clinical finisher than the Italian.
Neither player, of course, has any experience of playing in the Premier League but one feels that West Ham have made the correct call.
Haller is a cheaper option – perhaps due to his lack of standing outside of Germany; he hasn’t won a senior cap for France, while Belotti has won 22 for Italy – but he could well prove a bargain.