Haller Waiting For France Call As He Eyes Giroud’s Shirt

West Ham striker Sebastien Haller admits he is targeting the France centre forward spot, but he acknowledges “big forwards” are currently in front of him. The 25-year-old has hit the ground running at the London Stadium since his club-record move from Eintracht Frankfurt, scoring three goals in his first six games in the Premier League.

But Haller, who is the 20th most expensive French footballer in history, has yet to earn senior international recognition for France.
The former Auxerre starlet has 20 Under-21 caps for his country and a pretty good scoring ratio after 13 goals at that level, but has seemingly been off Didier Deschamps’ radar since he became ineligible for age-group football.

“Frankly, I do not look at the lists at all, but it’s something I’d like to be a part of ,” Haller told CFC’s Canal Football Club on Sunday. “But, you have to take your time. There are great players in front of me. You have to wait for your time.”

Haller admitted it was up to him to “play well and score goals” to force his way in ahead of World Cup-winning striker Olivier Giroud, who remains a favourite of the coach, despite scoring only seven goals in his last 24 international appearances.

He added: “It’s true that I can be an alternative – I’m waiting for a call, but Giroud is doing a good job.”
Haller moved away from France in 2015 when he joined Dutch club FC Utrecht, and from there Eintracht, which could have hurt his chances – but Deschamps has always given chances to players outside Ligue 1.

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However, unlike Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman and Manchester United’s Anthony Martial, Haller has never played in the Champions League and that may be the final hurdle for him to overcome before he gets a chance to earn his first cap. Deschamps announces his squad for the national team’s Euro 2020 qualifiers against France and Turkey on Thursday.