Roland Sallai

Roland Sallai was born in Budapest and started out at Puskás Akadémia, where he came through between 2014 and 2017. A loan spell at Palermo followed, but Puskás retained him afterwards rather than letting the Italian club exercise its buy option. His move to APOEL in 2017 brought immediate reward: he won the Cypriot First Division in his first season on the island.

SC Freiburg signed him in 2018, earning several selections in the Kicker Bundesliga Team of the Week and being named Player of the Week on Matchday 30 of the 2021–22 season. That spell in Germany was not without setbacks: adductor problems disrupted his first season, a head injury in a match against Bayer Leverkusen followed in 2022, and a further injury in the Europa League hit him in 2023.

With Hungary, Sallai has made his mark at major tournaments. He scored twice against England in the UEFA Nations League in 2022, struck the winner against Serbia in Euro 2024 qualifying, and then supplied the assist for the winning goal against Scotland at the tournament itself. He was sent off in a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Ireland in September last year.

In September 2024, Galatasaray paid €6 million to bring him to Istanbul on a four-year contract. He has already won the Süper Lig in his first two seasons at the club, alongside the Turkish Cup in 2024–25.