Former West Ham striker Tony Cottee is backing Sebastien Haller to reach 20 goals in the league following the Frenchman’s excellent start to the season.

Cottee was the last player to reach the milestone all the way back in 1987, and he thinks the Hammers’ record signing has the potential to match his achievement:

“The club paid a lot of money for him, an incredible amount of money. It puts pressure on a player, you’re the £45m million man, you’ve been bought to score goals.”

“Right from the first 20 minutes of the season, he’s played really well and now he’s got his goals. I was the last player to do it (score 20 league goals in a single campaign). I think Haller has got a chance (to break the record).”

Haller has already scored three in his first three appearances for the club, and he looks to be in the type of form that could see him score a bucketload of goals in the coming weeks and months.

He bagged a double in the 3-1 win over Watford and opened the scoring in the 2-0 victory against Norwich City before the international break.

Even on his debut against Manchester City last month, Haller looked very capable of holding up the ball and bringing others into the game. With his confidence high and having adapted super quickly to the Premier League, there is every chance that Cottee’s prediction will prove to be spot on.