# Melker Hallberg

Melker Hallberg (born 20 October 1995) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Kalmar FF.
Hallberg began his senior career at Kalmar FF, then in 2014, he signed for Italian club Udinese, and during his time there went on loan to Vålerenga, Hammarby IF, Ascoli and Kalmar FF. He signed for Vejle BK in 2018, where he spent one season. Hallberg then played in three seasons for Scottish club Hibernian. He made his full international debut for the Sweden national team in 2016, and has won a total of three caps and scored one goal.

## Career
### Early career

Hallberg grew up in the small town of Ljungbyholm, shortly to the south of Kalmar. There he started with the local club Möre BK where he played for the first team in the seventh tier of Swedish football at age thirteen.
In 2010 Hallberg was brought into the Kalmar FF youth section. Two years later he became the youngest-ever first-team player for the club when he made his Allsvenskan debut at the age of sixteen. On July 15, 2012, Hallberg became the fourth-youngest Allsvenskan goalscorer of all time when he scored the game-winning 2–1 goal against IF Elfsborg. In December 2012 he signed a new four-year contract extension. After his second season in Allsvenskan as a seventeen-year-old, Hallberg was ranked as the 14th-best player in the league by newspaper Expressen.

### Udinese

In August 2014, Hallberg signed for Italian club Udinese. He made his debut in January 2015.
In 2015, he was loaned out to Norwegian club Vålerenga Fotball, and in 2016 he was loaned out to Hammarby Fotboll in his native Sweden.

### Vejle BK

Hallberg joined Danish club Vejle Boldklub in the summer 2018. He left the club at the end of the 2018–19 season.

### Hibernian

Hallberg signed a three-year contract with Scottish Premiership club Hibernian in August 2019. He scored his first goal for the club in a Scottish League Cup tie against Celtic on 2 November 2019. He was released from his contract with Hibernian in January 2022.

### St Johnstone

Following his release by Hibernian, Hallberg signed an 18-month contract with St Johnstone in January 2022. After prolonged renegotiations, Hallberg left The Saints in July 2023.

### Return to Kalmar

In August 2023, Hallberg returned to his first club Kalmar FF on a contract until the end of the season.

## International career

Hallberg has featured regularly at all age levels of Swedish youth national teams. In August 2013 he got selected for the first time ever to the Swedish U21 squad in a friendly against Norway. He was selected for Sweden squads in January 2016 and January 2019.

## Career statistics

    As of 6 May 2023
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National Cup | National Cup | League Cup | League Cup | Other | Other | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Kalmar FF | 2012 | Allsvenskan | 11 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | 15 | 1 |
| Kalmar FF | 2013 | Allsvenskan | 29 | 4 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 31 | 4 |
| Kalmar FF | 2014 | Allsvenskan | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 1 |
| Kalmar FF | Total | Total | 54 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 60 | 6 |
| Udinese | 2014–15 | Serie A | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 |
| Udinese | 2015–16 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| Udinese | 2016–17 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| Udinese | 2017–18 | Serie A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 |
| Udinese | Total | Total | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Vålerenga (loan) | 2015 | Tippeligaen | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 10 | 2 |
| Hammarby IF (loan) | 2016 | Allsvenskan | 12 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 2 |
| Ascoli (loan) | 2016–17 | Serie B | 7 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 8 | 1 |
| Kalmar FF (loan) | 2017 | Allsvenskan | 27 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 30 | 2 |
| Kalmar FF (loan) | 2018 | Allsvenskan | 13 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 16 | 0 |
| Kalmar FF (loan) | Total | Total | 40 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 2 |
| Vejle BK | 2018–19 | Danish Superliga | 25 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 27 | 1 |
| Hibernian | 2019–20 | Scottish Premiership | 20 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 25 | 2 |
| Hibernian | 2020–21 | Scottish Premiership | 25 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 1 | — | — | 35 | 1 |
| Hibernian | 2021–22 | Scottish Premiership | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Hibernian | Total | Total | 45 | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 61 | 3 |
| St Johnstone | 2021–22 | Scottish Premiership | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 0 |
| St Johnstone | 2022–23 | Scottish Premiership | 30 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 35 | 3 |
| St Johnstone | Total | Total | 44 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 49 | 3 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 241 | 16 | 24 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 283 | 20 |
* 1 2 Appearances in the 2012–13 Svenska Cupen
* ↑ Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
* ↑ Appearances in the 2015–16 Svenska Cupen
* ↑ Appearances in the 2016–17 Svenska Cupen
* ↑ Appearances in the 2017–18 Svenska Cupen
* ↑ Appearances in the Danish Superliga Relegation round

### International

Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Sweden | 2016 | 2 | 1 |
| Sweden | 2017 | 0 | 0 |
| Sweden | 2018 | 0 | 0 |
| Sweden | 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| Total | Total | 3 | 1 |
    Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hallberg goal.
List of international goals scored by Melker Hallberg :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
| 1 | 10 January 2016 | Armed Forces Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates | Finland | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly | |

## Honours

Individual
* Allsvenskan newcomer of the year: 2013