West Ham signed Sebastien Haller in the summer for £45 million from Eintracht Frankfurt.
The Frenchman wasn’t the Hammers’ primary target, however.
West Ham were chasing Maxi Gomez all summer long, before he eventually decided to swap Celta Vigo for Valencia.
Sky Sports reported in July that the Hammers were prepared to meet the 23-year-old’s £44.85 million release clause. The move broke down, however, due to how the east London outfit wanted to stagger the payments for the Uruguayan.
So who has got the better striker, West Ham or Valencia?
*all stats gathered via WhoScored.com
Well, they both have four goals, but Haller has only played seven games compared to Gomez’s nine.
The Hammers ace is also clearly better in the air, with an average of 7.1 aerial duals won per game. Gomez has just 1.6.
Haller has one assist compared to Gomez’s zero. The 25-year-old is also better than the South American with the ball at his feet, with 0.4 successful dribbles per game as opposed to the Valencia hitman’s 0.2.
The West Ham front-man also has more key passes per game to his name with 1, whilst Gomez has just 0.3.
Haller’s pass completion rate is 71.9 %, whilst Gomez’s is just 69.3%.
So it is clearly evident that the former Eintracht Frankfurt striker is usurping the Uruguay international in every single category that really matters for a striker.
And although it’s still early days, it seems as though West Ham made the right decision going for Haller, rather than giving in to Celta’s demands for Gomez.
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