David Moyes admits West Ham had to sell Haller to Ajax because they wouldn’t get

David Moyes admits West Ham’s hand was forced to sell struggling Sebastien Haller because he believes the club would not have received as good an offer in the future.

Ajax completed a £22million move for the Ivory Coast international on Friday, with the 26-year-old signing a four-and-a-half year deal with the Dutch giants.

Haller became the Premier League side’s record signing when he joined the Hammers for £45m from Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt in 2019, but scored just 14 goals in 54 appearances in east London.

David Moyes says Sebastien Haller was sold as West Ham felt they would not get a similar offer

Ajax completed a £22million move for the 26-year-old Ivory Coast international on Friday

And having failed to make the grade in English football, West Ham have allowed him to move on for less than half what they originally shelled out for the former France U21 international.

Now speaking ahead of his side’s trip to Stockport on Monday for the third round of the FA Cup, Moyes insisted his side were not expecting the offer but sold the forward because there were doubts about whether they would receive another bid of a similar amount. 

‘I think that the Seb Haller situation was simply that we got an offer, we didn’t expect it, we weren’t planning to lose Seb this window,’ Moyes said.

‘He’s done great for us, he’s won a few games recently with his goals, so we wish him well. 

Haller failed to make the grade at West Ham, scoring just 14 goals in 54 appearances for them

‘I think it’s a really good move for him to go to Ajax and it was something which maybe if we didn’t take this offer now maybe we would not have got it at a later stage, so we just felt it was the right thing to do. But it certainly wasn’t planned.’ 

Haller had grabbed seven goals this season for David Moyes’ side, although four of those had come in the Carabao Cup in fixtures against Charlton and Hull.

He had been a regular in the Premier League, too, appearing in 16 of the Hammers’ 17 matches this season. 

But his return of just three goals – and a glaring miss against Manchester United after rounding the goalkeeper – has contributed to the decision to allow him to leave. 

Moyes will hope to reinvest the money raised, with Bournemouth’s Joshua King a top target

Moyes will now hope to be able to sign a replacement immediately with the funds raised by Haller’s sale.

Bournemouth and Norway striker Josh King is a possibility, with the former Manchester United youth product out of contract at the Vitality Stadium in the summer, while Olivier Giroud is also being considered.

The…