Erling Haaland is not easily up-staged.
But, as Borussia Dortmund travelled to Ajax in the Champions League group-stages in October, the usually-irrepressible Haaland had no response as his opposite number at the other end of the pitch fired the hosts to a crushing 4-0 win.
Sebastien Haller scored one of Ajax’s four goals that night. Slim pickings by his standards.
In six group-stage games, Haller found the net a remarkable 10 times. Only one player in Champions League history has scored more times in the first round.
And there are no prizes for guessing the identity of the current record-holder. Yes, Cristiano, we’re talking about you.
If you’d told West Ham United fans back in January, when David Moyes sold Haller to Ajax in a £20 million deal, that the Frenchman would be threatening to scrub Ronaldo’s name out of the European history books ten months later… well, their response probably wouldn’t be printable in a family publication.
Should West Ham have given Sebastien Haller more time?
Haller, not so long ago, looked like a striker lost, his confidence taking a battering after so many underwhelming performances in claret-and-blue.
“I might surprise you by saying I wasn’t that surprised,” David Moyes said in December 2020 after a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace which showcased the best and worst of Haller.
After bursting the Palace net with a fearsome overhead kick, Haller was then caught on his heels as he squandered a chance to win the game from close range.
“Seb has an incredible ability to get his leg up really high and score goals like that. It’s the tap ins I want him to score as well,” Moyes added.
“We expect a lot from him. We want his goals in the Premier League, not just cup games.”
Given his impressive he was during a previous spell in Dutch football with Utrecht, Haller was always likely to find goals easier to come by back in the Netherlands.
Especially when you take into account the Eredivisie’s seemingly ‘optional’ approach to defending.
With 20 in 23 games this term, the goals are flowing again, as is the confidence. But scoring past PEC Zwolle, Cambuur and NEC Nijmegen is one thing. Tearing the Champions League apart is another.
According to SportBILD, Haller impressed the Dortmund chiefs enough during that 4-0 thumping to suggest that he could take Haaland’s place when arguably Europe’s most coveted footballer moves on from the Signal Iduna Park.
Ajax are demanding £35 million – £15 million more than West Ham accepted just 11 months ago.
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