Moyes: Why Ivory Coast called-up Haller

West Ham United's Sebastien Haller (left) and Liverpool's Nathaniel Phillips battle for the ball

Sunday Nov 08, 2020. 13:00

New Ivory Coast international Sebastien Haller has been included in the latest Elephants squad because of his goalscoring record according to David Moyes.

The towering centre forward , who was born in France to a French father and an Ivorian mother, recently pledged his allegiance to Ivory Coast after representing France at youth level.

His manager at English Premier League club West Ham United, Moyes believes that Haller deserves to play at senior international.

The has been included in the Ivory Coast squad which will take on Madahscar in two back-to-back 2022 Afrcia Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers later this month and it is his maiden call-up.

“I’m pleased for Seb. He’s got a really good goalscoring record and I’m sure that’s why Ivory Coast have chosen him,” Moyes told the club website.

“It takes time to settle in the Premier League and quite often we expect an awful lot and everyone wants everything to happen so quickly.

“You make a new signing and you expect him to be in the team and him to be making a difference right away and you can see at several clubs that sometimes it takes a little bit of time to see how things work.

“We hope Seb can get his opportunity. This is a big chance to show exactly what he can do and show why West Ham valued him so highly.”

In July 2019, Haller joined West Ham for a reported club-record fee from German Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt where he excelled, but he has netted just 12 goals in 41 games for the Hammers.

“I’ve got to say he’s got a great reputation throughout Europe, Seb Haller. His goals in Germany were excellent at Frankfurt, so let’s hope he can bring them to West Ham,” the Scottish coach continued.

“I would hope that I don’t need to categorise him that he can only play in a certain type of game. We want to try and bring in players because we’re always going to be up against good quality opposition.

“I’m sure in Germany he came up against the likes of Bayern Munich and Dortmund, who are top teams in Europe and he played in those games for Frankfurt, so I don’t want to put him in any sort of category,” he added.

“I want to see a big whole-hearted, committed centre-forward who we know can contribute to the team. We’ve got the makings of a good team and I want Seb to be part of it.”