Saphir Sliti Taïder ( ar, سفير سليتي تايدر; born 29 February 1992) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born in France, he plays for the Algeria national team. After beginning professionally with Grenoble in 2010, Taïder spent most of his career in Italy, representing

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

(two spells), Internazionale and

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

. Over six-and-a-half seasons, he made 172 appearances and scored 10 goals in

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

. Taïder represented his place of birth, France, in the youth international level. He made his senior debut for Algeria in 2013 and represented the nation at the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and

2015 Africa Cup of Nations The 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, known as the Orange Africa Cup of Nations, Equatorial Guinea 2015 for sponsorship reasons, was the 30th staging of the Africa Cup of Nations, the international men's football championship of Africa. It was orga ...

Club career

Grenoble

Taïder made his professional debut with Grenoble on 15 May 2010 in a league match against

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. On 5 July 2010, he signed his first professional contract, agreeing to a three-year deal with Grenoble.

Bologna

Following Grenoble's relegation to the

Championnat de France amateur 2 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league competition. The league serves as the fifth division of the French football league system behind ...

, the fifth division of French football, due to financial problems in 2011, Taïder joined Italian club

. He made his

debut on 11 December 2011 as a substitute. On 16 January 2012, he made his first start in Serie A in the 1–1 draw against Napoli. A day later, it was announced Taïder was signed by

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

on a co-ownership deal for €2,425,000 in which

Frederik Sørensen Frederik Hillersborg Sørensen (born 14 April 1992) is a Danish professional association football, footballer. who currently plays for Serie B club Ternana Calcio, Ternana. His primary position is Defender (association football)#Centre-back, cen ...

heading the other way for €2.5 million, effectively made Bologna acquired 50% registration rights of Sørensen for €75,000 in a cash plus player deal. Taïder remained on loan at Bologna for the rest of 2011–12 season. In June 2012, Bologna bought back Taïder for €2.35 million, while Sørensen returned to Juventus in June 2014.

Inter

On 20 August 2013, Taïder joined Internazionale on a four-year contract for a €5.5 million transfer fee, plus the loan of

Diego Laxalt Diego Sebastián Laxalt Suárez (; born 7 February 1993) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Russian Premier League club Dynamo Moscow and the Uruguay national team. He is a youth product of Defensor Sporting, ha ...

. Bologna also retained 50% registration as part of the co-ownership deal. He made his debut for the ''Nerazzurri'' six days later in a 2–0 home victory against

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, coming on as a substitute for Ricky Álvarez in the 85th minute. He played 25 times in

2013–14 Serie A The 2013–14 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 112th season of top-tier Italian football, the 82nd in a round-robin tournament, and the 4th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie ...

for Inter, scoring once in a 7–0 win at

on 22 September. On 4 December, in his only

Coppa Italia The ("Italy Cup") is an annual knockout cup competition in Italian football organized by the FIGC until the 2009–10 season and the Lega Serie A ever since. History The beginning of the tournament was turbulent, due to the complexity of ...

match of the season, he scored a first-half penalty in a 3–2 home win over

Serie B The Serie B (), currently named Serie Balkrishna Industries, BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 ...

club

Trapani Trapani ( , ; scn, Tràpani ; lat, Drepanum; grc, Δρέπανον) is a city and municipality (''comune'') on the west coast of Sicily, in Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Trapani. Founded by Elymians, the city is still an impor ...

in the tournament's fourth round. In June 2014, the co-ownership deal of Taïder between Bologna and Inter was renewed. However, on 1 July, Inter purchased him outright for a €2 million fee, with former Bologna youth product

Lorenzo Paramatti Lorenzo Paramatti (born 2 January 1995) is an Italian footballer who plays as a defender. Career Youth career Son of former SPAL (1986–1995) and Bologna (1995–2000; 2002–03) footballer Michele Paramatti, Lorenzo Paramatti was born in Faen ...

returning to his parent club for a €1 million fee. On 6 August 2014, Taïder joined English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

on a season-long loan, in exchange for Dani Osvaldo. He played his only match three days later, replacing

James Ward-Prowse James Michael Edward Ward-Prowse (born 1 November 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Southampton and the England national team. Originally a member of Southampton's youth teams, Ward-Prowse ...

in the 61st minute of a 1–0 home friendly defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. The loan was terminated on 1 September 2014 and he was immediately loaned to Serie A side Sassuolo, as Southampton said he "failed to live up to the high levels of commitment expected of Southampton players". He made his debut 13 days later, replacing

Simone Missiroli Simone Missiroli (born 23 May 1986) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder. Club career Reggina A native of Reggio Calabria, he made his Serie A debut with the local team Reggina on 24 April 2005 against Brescia Calcio. He also sp ...

at half-time as Sassuolo lost 7–0 to Inter at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

Return to Bologna

On 31 August 2015, Bologna re-signed Taïder on a two-year loan, with an obligation to purchase him outright for an undisclosed fee. Inter also write-down the value of the contact of Taïder to €2.5 million backdated to 30 June 2015. At Bologna, he also joined fellow Inter teammate

Lorenzo Crisetig Lorenzo Crisetig (born 20 January 1993) is an Italian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Reggina. Crisetig made his competitive debut on 27 September 2011, in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League. Club career Youth career Born in Cividal ...

, who was signed under the same loan plus obligation deal in July 2015. According to Bologna, the club acquired Taïder for a €2 million transfer fee plus an additional €500,000 as a loan fee for the 2016–17 season. Bologna acquired Taïder on loan for free in 2015–16 season. Taïder played 29 and 24 times for Bologna in Serie A in 2015–16 and 2016–17 season respectively, scoring three goals.

Montreal Impact

On 22 January 2018, Taïder signed a three-year deal at

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

(MLS) club Montreal Impact, starting with a two-year loan and the option of a fourth year. He joined as a Designated Player. He made his debut on 7 March as the season began with a 2–1 loss at fellow Canadians

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

in what was also the first match for Impact manager

Rémi Garde Rémi Garde (, born 3 April 1966) is a French former professional footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Montreal Impact in Major League Soccer. He played as a defender and defensive midfielder, spending most of his career with hi ...

. A month later, he received a straight red card in the 14th minute of a 4–0 loss at the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution is an American professional soccer club based in the Greater Boston area that competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), in the Eastern Conference of the league. It is one of the ten charter clubs of MLS, having compet ...

for a foul on Luis Caicedo. He scored his first goal for the Impact on 28 April, albeit in a 4–1 defeat away to Atlanta United FC. On 21 November 2019, Montreal opted to make his move permanent.

Al-Ain

On 14 October 2020, signed with Al-Ain ahead of their inaugural season in the Saudi Professional League.

International career

Taïder played for France at U18, U19 and U20 level. On 26 March 2013, Taïder scored on his debut for

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

against

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

. At the

, Taïder played the entirety of Algeria's opening group match, a 2–1 defeat to

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. He did not feature again until the round of 16, playing the first 78 minutes of a loss to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

by the same score after extra time in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, , Brazilian ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of 1,488,252 inhabitants (2020) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, twelfth most populous city in the country ...

. Taïder was chosen in coach

Christian Gourcuff Christian Jean Gourcuff (born 5 April 1955) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who was most recently the manager of Ligue 1 club FC Nantes, Nantes. Club career During his ...

's Algerian squad for the

in Equatorial Guinea. He played every match as they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by eventual winners

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

Personal life

Taïder was born in France to a Tunisian father and an Algerian mother. He is the younger brother of Tunisian international Nabil Taïder.

Career statistics

Club

International goals

:''Scores and results list Algeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Taïder goal.''

Honours

Montreal Impact *

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship (french: Championnat canadien) is an annual soccer tournament contested by premier Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. It is contest ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

References

External links