Quick Facts
GeminiBiography
Roland Sallai (born 22 May 1997) is a Hungarian professional footballer who plays as a Winger for Bundesliga club SC Freiburg and the Hungary national team.
Club career
Puskás Akadémia
Sallai started his professional career at Puskás Akadémia where he played from 2014 until the summer of 2017. 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.
Palermo (loan)
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 29 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. 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. 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. 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.
International career
Sallai was part of the Hungarian U-20 team at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, 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. On 5 May 2016, Sallai was named in Hungary's preliminary Euro 2016 squad, but was left off of final squad for the tournament. 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.
On 1 June 2021, Sallai was included in the final 26-man squad to represent Hungary at the rescheduled UEFA Euro 2020 tournament.
Personal life
Sallai's uncle is former Hungarian national team defender Sándor Sallai.
Career statistics
Club
- As of 1 July 2021
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | 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 | 0 | 39 | 9 | |
| 2018–19 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7 | 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 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 67 | 13 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 71 | 13 | ||||
| Career total | 165 | 26 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 195 | 28 | ||
International
- As of match played 12 October 2021.
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Hungary | 2016 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 10 | 3 | |
| Total | 30 | 5 | |
| Hungary | 2016 | 1 | 0 |
| 2017 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 6 | 1 | |
| 2019 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 4 | 1 | |
| 2021 | 10 | 3 | |
| Total | 30 | 5 | |
- Scores and results list Hungary's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Sallai goal.
| 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 |