Second top scorer in the Champions League this season with 11 goals, the Ivorian faces the French team this Friday. A look back at the journey of a young rooster that became an elephant.
27 July 2012, Abbé Deschamps Stadium. For the first time since 1980, AJ Auxerre is starting its season in Ligue 2. Against Nîmes, the objective is simple: start the season with a victory. Jean-Guy Wallemme, the coach at the time, decided to rely on a young striker from the training center: Sébastien Haller. That day, Auxerre easily dominated his opponent so much so that the young striker felt his wings growing. In the 58th minute, he overflows on the left wing, transplants in the axis and sends an assist to Anthony Le Tallec. Victory 2-0. “He was freezing in front of goal. Right foot, left foot, head, it was impressive, especially at his age!remembers for Le Figaro former AJA goalkeeper Olivier Sorin.
The story gets off to a good start and could have turned into a real fairy tale, but unfortunately the Auxerre machine will quickly come to a halt. In November, AJA stopped moving forward, Jean-Guy Wallemme was let go and the young Haller had to make do with a few ends of matches here and there. He’s not giving up though. “He was already a very mature person, he knew what he wanted. He was very respectful of the elders in the locker room. He liked to laugh, he was a bon vivant with a very good state of mind. recalls his former teammate.
It was during this period that Didier Martel looked at his profile. This former player who led a professional career between France and the Netherlands in the 90s has been a recruiter at FC Utrecht for a few years now. For Le Figarohe returns to this episode: “I spotted Sébastien when he was 17 or 18 years old. I immediately sensed his potential but as he was under contract with AJA and playing with the reserve team I didn’t think that at some point he would become an opportunity for us.“. Yet months pass and the young man fails to gain the trust of his coaches. In the grip of financial difficulties, the club is even considering parting with it.When I felt that Auxerre was capable of letting him go, I did everything to get him to come because I was convinced that he didn’t need much to explode.“says Didier Martel.
On December 24, 2014, Auxerre made official the loan with option to buy from Sébastien Haller and unknowingly offered a real Christmas present to Utrecht, who would have to pay less than one million euros to keep him permanently. As soon as he arrived in the Netherlands, the young man did everything possible to integrate and worked a lot “He is a boy who is very sociable, and who has a very good mentality. He is an example for many young people, especially those who find it difficult to have playing time in their training club because they were able to adapt quickly and be appreciated by everyone in the locker room.“recalls Didier Martel.
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A meeting that changes everything
Match after match, Haller won his place in the team and even became an indisputable starter. He finished the season with 11 goals and 5 assists in 17 games, a real success that his recruiter explains by the opportunities offered by the Eredivisie: “It is a championship which is certainly a little less important than Italy, Spain, Germany and England, but where young people can express themselves and where they are given time to adapt to continue their progress. .»
During the 2015-2016 season, he had a decisive meeting for the rest of his career, that of the new coach of Utrecht, a certain Erik Ten Hag. The young coach, who arrives from Bayern Munich, sets up an offensive game in which the striker has fun. “In Utrecht, I felt that I was always concerned with the game, it made me progress.“explains the interested party for SoFoot in 2019.
In his first five games with Ten Hag, he was involved in five of his team’s six goals (four goals and one assist), a symbol of the chemistry that reigns between the player and his coach. “Erik is a great coach who knows how to get the most out of his players. He is a very human, attentive person who gives a lot of confidence. This is what Sébastien needed, he gave him confidence and consideration, even when he was going through a period of softness.“says Didier Martel.
In 2015, he was voted best player of the year in Utrecht. There, he grows up and goes from a teenager just out of the training center to a responsible young adult who has started a family. His club performances even allow him to wear the jersey of the France Espoir team with whom he played 15 matches between March 2015 and November 2016. Moreover, the last time we saw him on a pitch with the jersey of the blues, it was against Ivory Coast, he had scored a hat-trick…
New challenges and first title
After two and a half full seasons in the Eredivisie (51 goals in 98 matches), the native of Ris-Orangis in Essonne decided to take a step forward and joined Eintracht Frankfurt for six million euros. “With Sébastien, we have our absolute dream player, whom we have observed throughout the season.writes sporting director Fredi Bobic on the club’s official website. And it must be said that the former VfB Stuttgart striker was not mistaken. Under Niko Kovac, Haller continued his progression and won the very first title of his career: the German Cup at the end of the 2017-2018 season.
After the German experience, he tries the English adventure at West Ham United, the first black spot of his career. With only 14 goals in 54 matches, he fails to shine on the grounds of Premier League be it with Manuel Pellegrini or David Moyes arriving in January 2020 just months before the COVID-19 pandemic. This complicated period ends in January 2021. In the middle of the winter transfer window, number 22 leaves England and returns to the Eredivisie to join Ajax Amsterdam under the advice of Didier Martel with whom he has remained close. “I had advised Sébastien to go to Ajax because I knew that with Antony on the right and Tadic on the left he was going to become the top scorer in the championship. He’s the perfect centre-forward for these two players“. But there it is above all the opportunity to find Erik Ten Hag, who has become one of the most promising coaches in Europe and undoubtedly the one who knows how to best highlight Sébastien Haller.
Together the two men won the championship, the Dutch Cup and reached the final stages of the Champions League this season with Sébastien Haller at the top of his game. The Frenchman stacks the goals and becomes the first player to score 11 times in his first season in the Champions League. “It was perhaps not the first on which we would have bet but he knew how to find his way and that is perhaps what he can be most proud of. » Tells Olivier Sorin. His performances in C1 make him pass a milestone and his name is associated with the biggest European clubs, this is also the case of his coach who could join Manchester United next summer.
“I have a lot of respect for Didier Deschamps but for me he made a mistake”
Didier Martel
Throughout his career, Sébastien Haller dreamed of treading the steps of the Château de Clairefontaine, he waited a long time for his chance but in vain. Since his last selection with the Espoirs on November 10, 2016, he has never been called up by the FFF. On November 5, 2020, he stopped waiting and responded positively to the call of Ivory Coast coach Patrice Beaumelle, who convinced him to join the Elephants. “For a while, it’s true that the next logical step was to go with France because I had known the youth categories and had grown up in France. But we mature, we think, a lot of things are happening. (…) Today, if I made this choice, it’s because I’m reaching an age where I don’t really want to play about I don’t know what uncertainty. I wanted to take what there was to take and really enjoy myself.» he tells France Soccer.
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This choice, Didier Martel understands it but cannot help but harbor some regrets “I have a lot of respect for Didier Deschamps but for me he made a mistake not to select him to prepare the future of the France team. I think he could have taken over after Giroud and even competed with him.“For his part Olivier Sorin is happy to see two former Auxerrois find themselves in the selection “Seeing Willy Boly and Sébastien Haller who were together in training end up with Côte d’Ivoire to play against the France team, it’s a very beautiful story.”
One thing is certain, this Friday, the striker with four goals in twelve selections will find the Blues for the first time since this famous match of hopes against Côte d’Ivoire. Time to come full circle and continue to progress, always with the right mentality.