Top scorer in the UEFA Champions League group stage, Sébastien Haller made headlines in his first season in Europe’s top club competition.
The 27-year-old forward, who arrived from West Ham last winter, was Ajax’s most expensive signing ever and has continued to break record after record, while the Dutch champions have won all six of their Group C games and they finished nine points ahead of the second. UEFA.com traces the history of the Ivorian international.
Goals
• Became the first player to score four goals on his UEFA Champions League debut (5-1 on Matchday 1 against Sporting CP) since Marco van Basten, who scored four-0 at IFK Göteborg at first match in the competition (November 1992). “I still don’t believe it, it’s a dream,” Haller told UEFA.com.
• He tops the 2021/22 UEFA Champions League top scorer with 10 goals, one more than Robert Lewandowski. Erling Haaland, last year’s top scorer, had scored 10 in the whole tournament.
• He became the fastest player to reach ten UEFA Champions League goals in just six games.
• Scored in all six group stage games; so far only Cristiano Ronaldo had succeeded with Real Madrid in 2017/18.
They say about him
“Sébastian has class and I am not surprised by all this interest [degli altri club]. All I can say is: it will cost a lot of money. “
Erik ten Hag, Allenatore dell’Ajax
“Haller and Ludwig [suo compagno di squadra] they did kickboxing class with me in Amsterdam. We had great fun. This shows who he is. If he likes something he tries it. He immediately bought the gloves and the rest of the equipment. “
Myenty Abena, former Utrecht defender
“He always scores. Since January, when he arrived, his stats are phenomenal.”
Erik ten Hag, Ajax manager
“He’s better than he looks. I don’t want to make comparisons with Zlatan Ibrahimović, but he’s tall like him and has the same athletic skills.”
Ruud Boymans, former Utrecht striker
“Not even a bulldozer could take it down!”.
Niko Kovač, former Eintracht Frankfurt coach
Its origins
• Raised in Ris-Orangis on the outskirts of Paris, Haller is of an Ivorian mother and a French father and started out in judo but later preferred football.
• Called up to all French youth teams, Haller grew up with Auxerre but made a name for himself in the Netherlands with Utrecht, scoring 51 goals in 98 games in all competitions with Erik ten Hag on the bench.
• In 2017 he joined Eintracht Frankfurt, with whom he won the German Cup in his first season. He has scored 33 goals in 77 games across all competitions, until his purchase by West Ham in 2019. Coach Niko Kovač dubbed him “Cool Bird” for his calm.
• After two difficult seasons in England, he joined Ajax in January 2021. Sporting director Marc Overmars said: “West Ham are not a very attacking team. Here, Haller will always be close to the opponent’s goal and will have many teammates around.”
• Haller scored 11 goals in 19 Eredivisie games last season, but did not play in the UEFA Europa League because the club did not register him.
The next goals
• Haller has scored at an impressive pace in the Eredivisie this season. His minimum goal is to match the 24 goals he scored for Utrecht in 2015/16, his best season ever.
• Ajax take on Benfica in the round of 16 of the UEFA Champions League. In the first leg, Haller will return to Lisbon, where he scored four goals against Sporting on Matchday 1.
He says
“When it came to penalties [da bambino], usually I went to the door. I was one of the biggest and had great reflexes. Thanks to me we have won some tournaments, but I was happier if I was playing up front. Luckily I scored a lot of goals, otherwise I would have played more often as a goalkeeper. ”
“I have always stayed in touch [con Erik ten Hag]; we talked because we had a good relationship in Utrecht. When I learned there was a possible deal [con l’Ajax] I was happy. I just had to be patient. “
“A football team is like a puzzle: the pieces have to fit together. West Ham was not the right place for me. Whatever I did didn’t work, while at Ajax the coach knows me well and I know what he wants.”
“It is wonderful for a striker to score in the best competition there is.”
“Of course I wasn’t expecting that [di segnare dieci gol nella fase a gironi], especially in the first few games. I was just thinking about doing well and staying in the middle of the game. I didn’t even dream of ten goals. “
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