Sébastien Haller
Sébastien Romain Teddy Haller (born 22 June 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Eredivisie club Ajax and the Ivory Coast national team. Haller began his career with Auxerre, and moved on loan to Dutch Eredivisie side Utrecht in 2015, before signing on a permanent basis. After two years in The Netherlands, he moved to the German club Eintracht Frankfurt, winning the DFB-Pokal in 2018. Haller's performances sparked the interest of English Premier League side West Ham United, signing him in 2019 for a club-record transfer worth €49.8 million (£ 45 million). Following a disappointing spell in England, Haller returned to The Netherlands in 2021, signing with Ajax, for a club record fee of €22.5 million (£18.8 million). In his first six months, he won the Eredivisie and the KNVB Cup. Haller became the first player to score across seven consecutive UEFA Champions League matches during the 2021–22 season, with an eighth in his next match chalked off for offside. Born in France, to a French father and an Ivorian mother, Haller represented France at youth level, before switching his allegiance in 2020 to the Ivory Coast. He  scored his first international goal against Madagascar, and represented the national team at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. Early life. Haller was born in Ris-Orangis, Essonne, Paris, France to a French father and an Ivorian mother. Club career. Auxerre. During the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, on 26 June 2011, Haller signed his first professional contract with Auxerre, agreeing to a three-year deal. Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Haller was promoted to the senior team by manager Jean-Guy Wallemme. His professional debut came on 27 July 2012, in the team's opening league match of the  2012–13 campaign against Nîmes. Utrecht. On 24 December 2014, it was announced that Haller was sent on loan to Dutch Eredivisie club Utrecht until the end of the season. At the end of the season, it was announced that FC Utrecht had signed Haller. The supporters voted for Haller as the winner of the Di Tommaso Trophy 2015, Utrecht's player of the year award. Eintracht Frankfurt. On 15 May 2017, Haller signed with Eintracht Frankfurt on a four-year deal for a reported fee of €7 million. In the 2017–18 DFB-Pokal, he scored four goals for Frankfurt , as the club won the final, marking the first trophy of Haller's career. In the 2018–19 Bundesliga season, he scored 15 league goals in 29 appearances as the club finished seventh. In addition to his goals scored, he also made nine assists, meaning he was involved in 24 goals, a figure only beaten in the 2018–19 season by Robert Lewandowski with 29. West Ham United. On 17 July 2019, Haller signed with West Ham United on a five-year deal for a club record fee, that could rise to £45 million. He made his debut for West Ham  on 10 August, in a 5–0 Premier League loss against reigning champions Manchester City. On 24 August, Haller scored his first and second goals for West Ham in a 3–1 away win against Watford in which he scored an acrobatic bicycle kick. In July 2020, Frankfurt reported West Ham to FIFA after they had failed to pay an instalment in May 2020 of £5.4million as part of the £45 million transfer. West Ham claimed that they had withheld the payment, following a contractual dispute between the two clubs. On 16 December, Haller scored an overhead kick in a  1–1 draw against Crystal Palace that was later voted as the Premier League Goal of the Month in December. Ajax. 2020–21 season. On 8 January 2021, Haller signed a four-and-a-half-year contract with Dutch club Ajax for a club record fee of €22.5 million (£18.8 million), reuniting with his former manager Erik ten Hag. He made his debut two days later as a second-half substitute against De Topper rivals PSV; he provided an assist to Antony for the equalizing goal and also had a goal ruled out by VAR for offside as the match  ended 2–2. On 14 January, Haller scored his first goal for Ajax, and provided an assist, in a 3–1 away league win over Twente. On 3 February, it was revealed that Haller had been mistakenly omitted from Ajax's squad list for the knockout stages of the UEFA Europa League and therefore would be unable to play for the club in the competition. 2021–22 season. In a 5–1 away victory over Sporting in the UEFA Champions League on 15 September 2021, he scored twice in each half to become the first player to score four on his Champions League debut  since Marco van Basten for A.C. Milan in 1992. The following match of the Champions League season, on 28 September, Haller recorded a goal against Beşiktaş, becoming the first player in the history of the competition to score five goals in his first two matches appearances. In the reverse fixture, on 24 November, Haller scored two goals and had another ruled out by VAR, in a 2–1 win against Beşiktaş to become the first player to score nine goals in five consecutive matches of the competition. On 7 December, Haller scored in Ajax's final Champions League group stage match , and in the process became only the second player to register in all six group games after Cristiano Ronaldo in 2017–18 and became the fastest player to 10 goals in competition history. On 23 February 2022, made amends for an earlier own goal, and helped Ajax to a 2–2 away draw against Benfica, becoming the first player to score in seven consecutive matches in the competition. International career. Haller was a France youth international, having represented his nation at every youth level. He played with the under-17 team at the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup. In November 2020, Haller was  called up to the Ivory Coast national team. He debuted for the Ivory Coast in a 2–1 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualification win over Madagascar on 12 November, scoring his side's game-winning goal in the 55th minute. Honours. Eintracht Frankfurt Ajax Individual