Olowaseyi, Once Close to Maccabi Haifa, Now Starts for Canada at the World Cup

Canada and Bosnia are meeting at the World Cup, and one of Canada’s starting forwards, Tani Oluwaseyi, almost signed for Maccabi Haifa two years ago. At the time, Haifa was advancing in talks to replace Frantzdy Pierrot, who later moved to AEK Athens near the end of the summer 2024/25 transfer window.

Oluwaseyi was then playing for Minnesota United and was viewed as the leading candidate after a sharp rise from the U.S. second division to MLS. He finished his Minnesota contract at the end of 2024, but stayed on and produced a breakthrough season with 12 league goals and eight assists.

Minnesota eventually sold him for 7.5 million euros, about three times the biggest signing fee in Maccabi Haifa history, paid for Mathias Nahel. The Canadian striker is described as a physical forward who scored twice in the Champions League this season, against Copenhagen and Ajax, and also netted a brace in a warm-up match against Uzbekistan, another World Cup team.

He was chosen ahead of Southampton’s Kyle Larin. Across the season he scored nine goals in all competitions and started nine matches in Spain while playing alongside Manor Solomon. His market value has risen from 3 million euros in the summer of 2024, when he was on Haifa’s radar, to 7 million euros now. Oluwaseyi is under contract with Villarreal until 2030 and could play a bigger role next season.