It’s been a busy week of change for Club record signing Sebastien Haller, but the striker is honoured by the reception he has been given by West Ham United supporters, particularly in Saturday’s win over Fulham.
Fans were treated to the Frenchman’s West Ham debut at Craven Cottage yesterday, with the new No22 turning out for 64 minutes against the Championship side for his first outing in Claret and Blue.
Having trained with his new teammates for the first time on Tuesday, Haller capped his first full week as a Hammer with Saturday’s showing, and the forward is grateful for how everyone associated with the Club has welcomed him.
That welcome, according to the striker, was also shown by the fantastic West Ham supporters at Craven Cottage, who were both loud in voice and full of energy ahead of the new season.
“It’s been a nice week,” Haller reflected to whufc.com. “It’s London so there are a lot of things to do. I’m not alone – I’m here with my family so we can do a lot of things. We are looking for an apartment, a nursery – a lot of things and I have to say everyone at the Club has really helped me to feel comfortable.
“Not only my teammates but all the people that work in the club and in general in London. I’m looking forward to being really settled and getting down to work.
“It was nice to see also that there were a lot of supporters here for us at this game, who came to support us. It was a great atmosphere here. I think all my teammates and I enjoyed this game and hopefully, it will be even better in the next games.”
Manuel Lanzini’s 18th-minute strike was the difference in Saturday’s match as the Argentinian found the net with a fantastic effort from distance.
Haller was thrilled to help the Irons take the win in his first match as an Iron, although admitted he feels he should have also scored after seeing a close-range effort brilliantly saved in the second period.
He continued: “I think it’s a positive result. It’s nice to start with the victory, and I would like to have scored my first goal. Even though I couldn’t, I stay positive.
“I played more than 60 minutes, which was good for me and also for the team. We can see now that we’re going the right way.”
Fellow new signing Pablo Fornals was also in Saturday’s starting XI as manager Manuel Pellegrini named an exciting side to open the match with Fulham. Haller led the line with Fornals, Lanzini and Felipe Anderson supporting him, while Jack Wilshere and Declan Rice sat in midfield.
With so much creativity behind him, Haller is hopeful his first finish for West Ham will come very soon, with the Premier League season kicking off in less than two weeks.
"The calibre of our midfielders means that hopefully I will get a lot of opportunities to score goals,” Haller added. “I try to speak a lot with the midfielders because I think we need to get a good relationship if we want to work well together and score goals.
“We just have to work on it. Maybe it will take time, but we will try to make this time short because we need to perform fast in the Premier League.”
