Every time a forward arrives in the Premier League and hits the ground running, the temptation is to label them their respective club’s next ‘20-goal-a-season’ striker.
At West Ham United, that has happened repeatedly over the last three decades, only for a succession of strikers to fall short of that target.
Not since Tony Cottee in 1986/87 has a Hammer netted 20 goals in a single top-flight campaign but, after scoring three times in his opening three Premier League appearances, Sebastien Haller is already being tipped to end that long and unwanted run.
However, captain Mark Noble has rightly played down the expectations surrounding the Frenchman, instead encouraging both supporters and the media to allow the 25-year-old to settle into life in a new league and a new country without undue pressure being put on him.
Seb doesn’t need the media going on about how many goals he is going to get!
Mark Noble
“Let him just enjoy it!” Noble told reporters, following Saturday’s 2-0 home win over Norwich City, in which Haller netted his first London Stadium goal. “He doesn’t need the media going on about how many goals he is going to get! He has got three at the minute, so let’s let him keep finding his feet.
“He’s got three in three, so let’s hope he keeps enjoying it and not put pressure on him. To replace Marko Arnautovic we needed a very good player and Seb has done well for us.
“He has scored a couple of similar goals and we worked a lot on that type of movement and that sort of pass from Arthur [Masuaku] and the big man was there again to tap in. It was a really well-worked goal.”
Noble was asked how Haller has settled into the West Ham squad following his record summer move from German club Eintracht Frankfurt. As is evident by his on-field relationship with his new teammates, the answer was a positive one.
“Brilliantly!” the skipper confirmed. “He speaks good English, which helps, and he’s a great lad who wants to learn, wants to play, wants to win and I said at the time [of his signing], this Club needs to move on from bringing in players who are here to, sort of, live in London and earn a bit of a payday.
“We need young, enthusiastic players who are going to want to be here and play for the Club for a long time, and it seems to be the case with him.”
