Canadian striker who nearly joined Maccabi Haifa starts at the World Cup

Canada is playing Bosnia in the World Cup on Friday, and one of Canada’s starting strikers, Tani Oluwaseyi, was nearly signed by Maccabi Haifa two years ago. At the time, Haifa was looking for a replacement for Frantzdy Pierrot, who had been sold to AEK Athens near the end of the summer 2024/25 transfer window, and Oluwaseyi was the leading candidate while he was at Minnesota United.

Oluwaseyi had then moved up impressively from the second tier to Major League Soccer. His Minnesota contract expired at the end of 2024, but he stayed and produced a breakout season with 12 goals and eight assists in the league. He was eventually sold for 7.5 million euros, three times more than Haifa’s record signing, Mathias Nahuel.

The Canadian forward is described as a physical striker who has scored twice in the Champions League this season, against Copenhagen and Ajax, and netted a brace in a warm-up match against Uzbekistan, another World Cup team. He was chosen ahead of Southampton’s Kyle Larin. This season he has scored nine goals in all competitions and started nine matches in Spain, playing alongside Manor Solomon.

Oluwaseyi’s market value has risen from 3 million euros in the summer of 2024, when Haifa wanted him, to 7 million euros now. He is under contract with Villarreal until 2030 and could have a bigger role next season.