How Sebastien Haller went from £45m West Ham flop to top scorer in Champions League for Ajax in one season

HE was the £45million flop West Ham couldn’t wait to get rid of.

But now Sebastien Haller is joint top scorer in the Champions League – and a striker big clubs are looking at all over again

Haller’s renaissance at Ajax after paying the Hammers less than £19m to take him off their hands last January was not a mistake by David Moyes.

While he scored one utterly spectacular overhead kick against Crystal Palace, finding the net just 14 times in 54 matches simply was not good enough.

There were few, if any, signals of disappointment from the London Stadium fans.

Yet in Amsterdam, where nine goals in five Champions League games so far have put the Ivorian alongside Mo Salah and Robert Lewandowski at the head of the charts, Haller has become a massive hero.

Ajax were supposed to struggle in their group. Instead, they were through after four matches, guaranteed to finish top after five.

And it is Haller’s goals, starting with four in the opening 5-1 romp at Sporting Lisbon and continuing by finding the net in every game to date, that has set the standard
The 27-year-old has 18 in 19 games in all competitions so far this term, after notching 13 in 23 games after his move last season.