As West Ham United fans celebrate the emergence of a new goal hero in Sebastien Haller spare a thought for Maxi Gomez.
The Gomez sage already seems like an age ago for West Ham Fans.
The long-running transfer battle between the Hammers and Valencia finally fell in favour of the La Liga side.
West Ham were desperate for a striker and seemed to have put all their eggs in one basket by chasing Uruguayan youngster Gomez since January.
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Haller bubbles Gomez's struggles
Valencia got their man, though, and at the time Hammers fans were left cursing another fruitless striker chase.
Champions League football and sunnier climes had won the day for the Spanish outfit over West Ham’s more lucrative contract.
In the end West Ham spent their £45million elsewhere on record capture Haller.
And it looks money well spent based on what West Ham fans have seen so far.
In a good first half display against Manchester City on the opening day Haller was excellent.
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Contrasting starts
Injury saw the Frenchman miss the draw at Brighton. But he was back with a bang at Watford on Saturday with two goals in a 3-1 win.
Meanwhile over in Spain, things seem to be going from bad to worse for Gomez.
After failing to get a single minute for Uruguay in the summer’s Copa America Gomez then struggled in pre-season appearances for Valencia.
His performance against Bayer Leverkusen before the start of the season was so bad it had some supporters and media questioning the signing already.
Marca reported that Valencia boss Marcelino had to try and protect Gomez’s confidence by giving the striker his backing in front of teammates after the disappointing showing.
Despite being at home against Real Sociedad on the opening day last week Gomez failed to see a single minute of action.
The £40million star was left on the bench as Marcelino used all three subs in a disappointing 1-1 draw.
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New Valencia low for Gomez at old club
That was despite centre forward Rodrigo coming off too.
Gomez was handed his first start against former club Celta Vigo this week.
But the match ended in a 1-0 defeat for Valencia with Gomez hauled off after an hour.
West Ham fans won't take pleasure in seeing the 22-year-old struggle.
They will take great solace in the fact Haller seems to have hit the ground running, though.
The former Eintracht Frankfurt forward seems to have more about him than Gomez and that has helped him adapt to the fiercely competitive English game.
That may not have been the case for Gomez who seems to be struggling despite electing to stay in Spain.
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