Sébastien Haller Played For France Before Ivory Coast: 10 Interesting Facts

Sébastien Haller is a professional football player who is linked with Ajax of the Eredivisie club. The Eredivisie is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands.

Haller plays as a forward for Ajax and the Ivorian national team. He however started his career with a French football club known as Auxerre before moving to another club in the Eredivisie club, Utrecht.

He is a player whose motivation is the need to score goals. Sébastien once admitted to being frustrated whenever he is unable to net a goal during play. As a result of his eagerness to score goals, Haller has been a formidable player who has a lot of eyes on him.

Here Are Some Facts About The Ivorian Player, Sébastien Haller

1. Sébastien Haller’s Early Life

Born Sébastien Romain Teddy Haller on the 22nd of June 1994, he is of French and Ivorian descent. He was born in France to a French father and Ivorian mother who encouraged his love for athletes.

Sébastien’s mother initially signed him up for Judo classes but he quickly got bored of it and switched to playing football. According to the forward, he was encouraged to take up football professionally by those who watched him play at that young age.

2. He Became Independent At An Early Age

When he realized he wanted to play football professionally, Haller then moved out of his parent’s care at the tender age of 13. He went to stay at Champs-Sur-Yonne with a friend and fellow football enthusiast’s family.

While with this family, he was able to develop his skills better and he also grew faster. He did not find it challenging at all because he barely had the time for anything other than play.

3. He Has Made Two Club-record Transfers

 

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In 2019, Sébastien was signed to West Ham United of the English Premier League at a transfer fee of 49.8 million Euros. This was the club’s record transfer fee however this was not the only time he made a record transfer for a club.

Upon Haller’s return to the Netherlands from England he signed with Ajax for a club-record fee of 22.5 million Euros and his spell in the club was quite impressive.

4. He Lashed Out When Asked If He Would Be Part Of Afcon

Ivorian Forward, Haller was offended when he was asked his stand on playing at the Afcon tournament. He felt the question was disrespectful because he believed it wouldn’t have been a question if the tournament was a European one.

This happened in an interview with the Dutch media and a reporter asked if he was going to leave his club team to play with his national team. He insisted that it was an honor to play at the Afcon and he was more than willing to go for the tournament.

5. Sébastien Haller Is A Goal-freak

Haller Sébastien has proven to be a goal freak with his streak of goals. The former French player has in his senior career scored a total of 133 goals in 239 appearances. He netted in a whopping 30 goals in 65 games with Utrecht in 2015 and went on to score 23 goals in 36 matches with Ajax.

Similarly, with his national teams, he scored 6 goals in 12 appearances for the France U-17 team in 2011 and 4 goals of 11 appearances with the Ivorian team. Totally, Haller has 28 goals in 62 appearances for both the French national team and Ivory Coast.

6. The Forward Has Caught The Eyes Of Arsenal FC

Following Arsenal’s desperation to sign a striker, they have their eyes on Sébastien. Since the ban on Pierre-Emerick Aubamenyang, the club has been in dire need of a replacement.

Rio Ferdinand suggested signing the Ajax player in place of Fiorentina player, Dusan Vlahovic. The Gunners have their eyes on both Vlahovic and Haller although there are doubts about the former joining the English team.

7. He Is The First African Player To Score A Quartet In The UCL

Sébastien Haller is the first African player to score a total of 4 goals in a single game. He shares the spotlight with Messi, Lewandoski, Olivier Giroud, and Cristiano Ronaldo. Haller is the 16th player to achieve the title with Messi and Lewandoski achieving it twice.

However, most interesting is the fact that he is the only African player to have gotten to the list. After Giroud achieved this in 2020, the Ivorian player has overhauled the title.

8. What Is Sébastien Haller’s Style Of Play?

Ajax and Ivory Coast’s Romain is a right-footer who has been described as a versatile finisher. With a need to score as many goals as possible, he has been likened so many times to David Trezeguet.

He is quite able to use both feet and this makes him a sharpshooter even if he just made a recovery of the ball. With this ability, the 30 year old is able to prevent a tackle or block from an opponent.

Standing at the height of 6 feet 3 inches, he possesses so much power as well as poses an aerial threat to opponents.

READ ALSO: Jean Michaël Seri Is An Ivoirian Soccer Player: 10 Facts About Him

9. He Was Listed As One Of The Players To Watch Out For During Afcon 2021

Alongside players like Cameroon’s Andre Onana, Tunisia’s Hannibal Mejbri, and Ayoub El Kaabi, Haller has been listed amongst players to watch out for during the Afcon 2021.

The list of players according to ‘theafricareport’ site, contains 6 African players of the aforementioned as well as Said Benrahma of Algeria and Bamba Dieng of Senegal with Sébastien Haller as the 6th player.

10. Haller’s Awards And Titles

 

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Sébastien Haller won the DFB-Pokal: 2017-18 honors with Eintracht Frankfurt. In 2020-2021, he won the Eredivisie title as well as the KNVB Cup with Ajax.

As an individual, the Forward of the ‘Elephants’ won the David Di Tommaso Trophy in 2015. Haller also won Bundesliga Rookie of the Month in October 2017. In December 2020 he clinched the ‘Premier League Goal of the Month’ title.

Complete profile of Sébastien Haller