Speaking on the Transfer Window Podcast, Ian McGarry has claimed that West Ham actually paid a lot less than the initially reported £45 million fee for Sebastien Haller.
McGarry is well-connected and he recalled a conversation he had with the Frankfurt Sporting Director at that time, who denied that such a hefty fee had been paid for the French striker.
The Haller fee has been a controversial talking point for quite some time now, with FIFA getting involved with the payments of instalments to Frankfurt, but it’s now claimed by McGarry that the London club didn’t pay £45 million for the striker who has just been sold for £20.2 million.
“West Ham striker Sebastien Haller joining Ajax for €22.5 million (£20.2m), now I say this is surprising for two reasons. One, West Ham, when they signed Haller from Frankfurt said that he cost £45 million IE about €50 million at that point, and as we know, West Ham are not really in the habit of selling players at half the price they bought them from, even if the player hasn’t lived up to expectations.
“It just reminds me of a conversation I had, that Eintracht denied they’d been paid £45 million for Haller at the time, and the Sporting Director chuckled to himself when it was suggested that that was the price they had received from West Ham, and it’s believed that the fee was a lot closer to the €22.5 million that West Ham have now received from Ajax.”
We can’t confirm whether or not McGarry’s claim is true, but the journalist is usually very reliable on transfers, and he’s clearly spoken to people close to the situation.
If this is true, it’s a cracking piece of business for the Hammers, and Haller’s sale makes a lot more sense with this information available to us.
As McGarry says, they aren’t the type of club to accept a near £25 million loss on a player, so there may well be some credence to this claim.
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