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Roland Sallai (born 22 May 1997) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a right winger or attacking midfielder for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Hungary national team.[3]
 Sallai playing for Hungary at the UEFA Euro 2020 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Roland Sallai[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 22 May 1997[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Budapest, Hungary | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Right winger, attacking midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Galatasaray | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2003–2007 | Debreceni Olasz Focisuli | ||
| 2007–2009 | Siófok | ||
| 2009–2014 | Videoton | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2014–2017 | Puskás Akadémia | 48 | (3) |
| 2016–2017 | → Palermo (loan) | 21 | (1) |
| 2017–2018 | APOEL | 29 | (9) |
| 2018–2024 | SC Freiburg | 138 | (20) |
| 2024– | Galatasaray | 10 | (1) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015 | Hungary U18 | 3 | (1) |
| 2015 | Hungary U19 | 1 | (0) |
| 2015 | Hungary U20 | 4 | (1) |
| 2015–2016 | Hungary U21 | 8 | (1) |
| 2016– | Hungary | 58 | (14) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:14, 16 December 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:51, 19 November 2024 (UTC) | |||
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Puskás Akadémia
Sallai started his professional career at Puskás Akadémia where he played from 2014 until the summer of 2017. He scored twice against Panathinaikos F.C. in the group match of the 2014 Puskás Cup. He made his debut on 1 August 2014 against Pécs, and scored first goal in Hungarian league against Ferencváros on 14 September 2014 in Groupama Aréna.[4]
Palermo
On 4 August 2016, Sallai joined Italian club Palermo on a seasonal loan, until the end of the 2016–17 season with a loan fee of $300,000.
Sallai completed 84 minutes on his debut for Serie A's club on 10 September 2016 against Napoli. He scored his first official goal for Palermo on 19 March 2017 against Udinese. He appeared in 21 Serie A matches (eleven in the starting line-up, ten as a substitute) and scored one goal.
APOEL
On 5 August 2017, it was announced that APOEL had secured his signature on a four-year contract until the end of May 2021, for an undisclosed transfer fee from Puskás, rumored to be around €2 million.
On 9 September, he made his debut and scored his first goal against Nea Salamina. He appeared in 29 Cypriot First Division matches and scored 9 goals.
He also appeared in six UEFA Champions League matches against Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Tottenham Hotspur.
SC Freiburg
On 31 August 2018, Sallai signed a four-year deal with Bundesliga club, SC Freiburg for a fee reported to be €4.5 million.[5] On 22 September 2018 he scored and won a penalty on his debut against Wolfsburg at Volkswagen Arena on the 4th match day of the 2018–19 Bundesliga in a 3–1 victory, and he was named in the team of the week following his performance.[6][7] From middle of November 2018 he had an adductor problems, and was unable to play for the next five months. He returned as a substitute on 5 May 2019 against Fortuna Düsseldorf.
Sallai started his third season at the Freiburg with a goal and a assist against VfB Stuttgart in a 3–2 victory.[8] He scored two goals against Schalke 04 in 2–0 victory in Veltins-Arena and was named in the team of the 12th match day by sports magazine kicker.[9]
2022–23 season
On 16 April 2022, he scored twice against VfL Bochum at the Europa-Park Stadion on the 30th game week in the 2021–22 Bundesliga season. Both assist were prepared by Jeong Woo-yeong.[10] He was also voted for the best player of Game Week 30 by Kicker.[11][12]
In the 2022–23 Bundesliga season, he scored only one goal against SV Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion, Bremen on the 28th game week.[13] Compared to his previous seasons, he only made 19 appearances in the Bundesliga, while four appearances in the domestic cup.
2023–24 season
On 19 August 2023, he scored his first goal in a 2–1 victory against TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on the first match day of the 2023–24 Bundesliga season.[14] According to Kicker, he became the best player of Freiburg from a troublemaker.[15]
In an interview with Nemzeti Sport, he said that a Saudi club, Al-Ettifaq FC managed by Steven Gerrard, offered him a lot of money to sign him, however, he chose his career and stayed in Germany.[16][17][18][19]
On 21 September 2023, he scored his first goal in a 3–2 victory against Olympiacos F.C. in the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League season.[20] On 5 October 2023, he scored the only Freiburg goal in a 2–1 defeat against West Ham United F.C. in the Europa League.[21] On 26 October 2023, he got injured in the third round of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League group stage match against FK TSC.[22][23][24] On 30 November 2023, he returned from his injury in a 2023–24 UEFA Europa League match against Olympiacos F.C.[25]
He scored his first goal in the 95th minute in a 2–0 home victory against 1. FC Köln on the 15th match day of the 2023–24 Bundesliga season after his two-month break due to his injury.[26][27]
On 20 January 2024, he scored the winning goal in the 85th minute in a 3–2 victory over TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on the 18th game week of the 2023–24 Bundesliga season.[28][29][30]
On 22 February 2024, he scored two goals in a 3-2 victory over RC Lens in the second leg of the 16th finals of the 2023–24 UEFA Europa League.[31][32][33]
Galatasaray
On 13 September 2024, he signed with the Turkish Süper Lig club Galatasaray on a 4-year contract.[34][35] On 21 September 2024, he debuted in a league match against Fenerbahçe S.K. in the 2024–25 Süper Lig season.[36] He entered the pitch as a substitute for Dries Mertens in the 75th minute.[37] On 1 December 2024, he scored his first goal in a 2-2 draw against Eyüpspor in the 2024-25 Süper Lig season.[38][39]
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Sallai was part of the Hungarian U-20 team at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup,[3] playing in two games. He made his debut for U-21 team against Italy U21 on 12 August 2015.
He made his full international debut on 20 May 2016 in a friendly match against Ivory Coast at the Groupama Arena, Budapest, Hungary.[40] On 5 May 2016, Sallai was named in Hungary's preliminary Euro 2016 squad, but was left off of final squad for the tournament.[41] On 11 September 2018, he scored his first goal for the national team against Greece at the Groupama Arena, Budapest, in a 2018–19 UEFA Nations League C match.[42]
On 1 June 2021, Sallai was included in the final 26-man squad to represent Hungary at the rescheduled UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.[43] On 14 June 2022, he scored a brace in a 4–0 away win over England in the 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A, to be England's worst home defeat since the Wembley Wizards match in 1928.[44]
He scored the first goal in a 2–1 victory against Greece on 20 November 2022. The match was also the farewell of Balázs Dzsudzsák.[45]
On 20 June 2023, he scored his 10th international goal, be netting the second goal in a 2–0 win against Lithuania in the 83rd minute at the Puskás Aréna in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying Group G.[46]
On 14 October 2023, he scored the second Hungarian goal in a 2–1 victory over Serbia at the Puskás Aréna in the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying match.[47][48]
On 14 May 2024, Sallai was named in Hungary's squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[49] He started all three Group A matches, assisting Kevin Csoboth's 100th-minute winning goal against Scotland in the final group match on 24 June.[50]
On 11 October 2024, he scored the first goal in a 1–1 draw against the Netherlands in the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A match at the Puskás Aréna.[51] The assist was performed by Zsolt Nagy.[52] After the match, he said that the team found themselves again.[53]
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His father, Tibor, is also a football player.[54]
Sallai's uncle is former Hungarian national team defender Sándor Sallai.[55]
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Club
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | League cup[b] | Europe | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Puskás Akadémia | 2013–14 | NB I | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |
| 2014–15 | 16 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | 22 | 3 | |||
| 2015–16 | 31 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 32 | 1 | |||
| 2017–18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 48 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | — | 56 | 4 | |||
| Palermo (loan) | 2016–17 | Serie A | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 1 | ||
| APOEL | 2017–18 | Cypriot First Division | 29 | 9 | 4 | 0 | — | 6[c] | 0 | 39 | 9 | |
| 2018–19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7[d] | 1 | 7 | 1 | |||
| Total | 29 | 9 | 4 | 0 | — | 13 | 1 | 46 | 10 | |||
| SC Freiburg | 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 10 | 2 | ||
| 2019–20 | 21 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 2 | ||||
| 2020–21 | 28 | 8 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 29 | 8 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 31 | 4 | 5 | 1 | — | — | 36 | 5 | ||||
| 2022–23 | 19 | 1 | 4 | 1 | — | 3[e] | 0 | 26 | 2 | |||
| 2023–24 | 27 | 3 | 1 | 1 | — | 9[e] | 4 | 37 | 8 | |||
| 2024–25 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 138 | 20 | 13 | 3 | — | 12 | 4 | 163 | 27 | |||
| Galatasaray | 2024–25 | Süper Lig | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 | |
| Career total | 246 | 34 | 22 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 25 | 5 | 297 | 43 | ||
- Includes Magyar Kupa, Coppa Italia, Cypriot Cup, DFB-Pokal
- Includes Ligakupa
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
International
- As of match played 19 November 2024[58]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hungary | 2016 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 10 | 3 | |
| 2022 | 8 | 4 | |
| 2023 | 8 | 3 | |
| 2024 | 12 | 2 | |
| Total | 58 | 14 | |
- Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sallai goal.[58]
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 September 2018 | Groupama Arena, Budapest, Hungary |  Greece | 1–0 | 2–1 | 2018–19 UEFA Nations League C |
| 2 | 6 September 2020 | Puskás Aréna, Budapest, Hungary |  Russia | 1–3 | 2–3 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League B |
| 3 | 25 March 2021 |  Poland | 1–0 | 3–3 | 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification | |
| 4 | 28 March 2021 | San Marino Stadium, Serravalle, San Marino |  San Marino | 2–0 | 3–0 | |
| 5 | 12 October 2021 | Wembley Stadium, London, England |  England | 1–0 | 1–1 | |
| 6 | 29 March 2022 | Windsor Park, Belfast, Northern Ireland |  Northern Ireland | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 7 | 14 June 2022 | Molineux Stadium, Wolverhampton, England | England | 1–0 | 4–0 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A |
| 8 | 2–0 | |||||
| 9 | 20 November 2022 | Puskás Aréna, Budapest, Hungary | Greece | 1–0 | 2–1 | Friendly |
| 10 | 20 June 2023 |  Lithuania | 2–0 | 2–0 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying | |
| 11 | 10 September 2023 |  Czech Republic | 1–0 | 1–1 | Friendly | |
| 12 | 14 October 2023 |  Serbia | 2–1 | 2–1 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying | |
| 13 | 8 June 2024 | Nagyerdei Stadion, Debrecen, Hungary |  Israel | 1–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
| 14 | 11 October 2024 | Puskás Aréna, Budapest, Hungary |  Netherlands | 1–0 | 1–1 | 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A |
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