AS Monaco boss Niko Kovac is keen to reunite with Sebastien Haller in a summer transfer a year on from his club-record move to West Ham United, according to the Express.
Haller joined Manuel Pellegrini’s Irons in a deal worth up to £45million after excelling in Germany for Eintracht Frankfurt, but struggled to replicate his Bundesliga form in the Premier League whilst the Hammers endured a turbulent season.
An initial burst of three goals in his first three Premier League appearances left Haller looking like a superb signing, but the 26-year-old would only find the back of the net a further five times over his following 29 top-flight appearances and stomached a goal drought lasting six or more games on three occasions.
Four of his Premier League strikes came against the relegated trio of Watford, Norwich City and AFC Bournemouth, too, but Kovac is keen to reunite with the former France U21 international after deeming nine of his Monaco players surplus to requirements.
Monaco are not yet suggested to have readied a formal approach or requested further information from the Irons, suggesting Kovac must first wait until funds are raised before he can begin crafting a side to his suiting having taken charge at the Stade Louis II at the end of the 2019/20 French domestic season.
West Ham may be more prepared for a transfer, though, as it is added that we have looked into potential transfers for Chelsea’s Michy Batshuayi and Haller’s former on-loan Frankfurt teammate Luka Jovic after the Croatian’s struggles with Real Madrid.
Haller’s future in east London may also be in doubt after the club missed a payment owed to Frankfurt in May, were due to make another on Saturday and held a secret hearing with FIFA last week to discuss the matter.
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Jovic lit up the Bundesliga alongside Haller in 2018/19 whilst on loan from SL Benfica with 17 goals and six assists to the Frenchman’s 15 goals and nine assists, but was only able to score twice and assist once in 17 La Liga outings for Los Blancos with boss Zinedine Zidane only starting the 22-year-old four times.
Whether Jovic – who Madrid signed for around €60m (£53.2m) – is available for a third transfer inside three years remains to be seen, as does a move by West Ham. But the Irons cashing in on Haller amid Monaco’s interest could be a move which David Moyes lives to regret.
While Haller may have struggled to score frequently during a season which saw Pellegrini sacked and Moyes return to lead us to safety, the 26-year-old did present a fierce presence on the pitch more so than any of our other players.
Haller led the club for duels won per game in the Premier League this season at 9.28, which only Michail Antonio (8.38) and January arrival Tomas Soucek (8.31) could get close to. The forward was also our third-most fouled per game (1.19) player, took the third-most shots (1.44) with the third-most on-target (0.84) and played the fourth-most accurate passes in the final third (5.88), according to Sofa Score.
He won the joint-most penalties (1), too, and will be a tricky player for Moyes to replace if the former Manchester United boss is hopeful of adding a player with a similar skillset and physique.
