The Champions League has just reached the first leg of the knockout rounds this season, but Ajax's Ivorian striker Alai has scored 11 goals in seven Champions League games. Alai attempted a total of 21 shots and converted 11 of them into goals, scoring an average of 1 goal in 53 minutes and achieving a 52% conversion rate. Alai is the fastest player in Champions League history to complete a single season of 10+, he has equaled Ajax's single season individual Champions League goal record, and he is also the first player in history to score all the first seven Champions League games of his career. Alai is currently two goals ahead of Lewandowski and is at the top of this season's Champions League top scorers list.
Earlier, In an interview, Alai expressed his surprise at being the number one top scorer in the Champions League, "I have such a thing happening to myself, I really don't know what to say, how is this possible?" ”
Alai has been famous for a long time, but this season's stunning performance is a leap forward in Alai's career. During his time at Eintracht Frankfurt, Alai's "trident" with Jovic and Rebić is well known to fans, and in the summer of 2019, West Ham United beat many competitors to sign Alai for a transfer fee of 50 million euros, which seems to mean that a world-class center forward is about to be born. However, Alai's performance in the Premier League did not meet expectations, he failed to adapt well to the Hammers' attacking system, in the 2019-20 season, Allai scored seven goals for West Ham United in 35 games, and many media regarded Alai as a disappointing deal in the Premier League that season. Despite this, Alai's transfer fee when he officially transferred to Ajax in January last year still reached 22.5 million euros, after all, Alai's height, confrontation ability and pivot role are still rare in today's European football, Ajax did not hesitate to introduce Alai at a high price, hoping that Alai, who had a good performance in Utrecht, could help the team achieve something in the european and domestic league double-line operations.
The move to Ajax allowed Alai's career to take off in an instant, and he became a prolific goalscorer at Ajax, scoring 28 goals in 29 games this season, topping the top scorers list in both the Champions League and the Dutch First Division. In addition, due to the fierce competition of the French national team, Alai was first selected for the Ivorian national team in November 2020, and made his debut and scored a goal in the subsequent African Cup of Nations qualifiers between Côte d'Ivoire and Madagascar, and at the African Cup of Nations in January this year, Alai also played as a member of the Ivorian national team. In the first round of the Champions League group stage between Ajax and Sporting Portugal in September last year, Alai scored four goals in the first Champions League game of his career, and was the second player in Van Basten to make his debut in the history of the Champions League, and then Alai continued to prove that his "big four" was not out of luck, and he had excellent performances in Ajax against Dortmund, Besiktas and other teams.
Compared to many French-born players, Alai's experience is quite different. Born in Paris on 22 June 1994, Alai's father is a Frenchman, his mother Simone Kuyo is an Ivorian, as a child, Alai was sent by his mother to practice judo, because his mother did not like the sport of football, and France's success in judo at the 1996 Olympic Games made Alai's mother more inclined to let Alai contact judo. However, Alai soon found himself more fond of football, and after some youth football training, Alai joined the Auxerre youth academy in 2007 and officially joined the Auxerre first team in 2012.
After three years in the Auxerre first team, Alai chose a somewhat surprising path, and instead of staying at Auxerre or joining other French clubs, he travelled to Utrecht in the Netherlands, which seemed to be the beginning of Alai's fate with Dutch football. At Utrecht, Alai was successful, proving himself to have a very good scoring efficiency, but also winning the opportunity to take his career to the next level – he joined Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga for a transfer fee of 12 million euros, which was an opportunity to bring him closer to the peak stage of European football.
Alai's story at Frankfurt is well known, and his physical qualities, scoring efficiency and comprehensive center-forward skills make him regarded as a rare center forward seedling, and even in the talented French football world, a tall and well-rounded center like Alle is still very rare. He attracted the attention of many clubs, and his final move to West Ham United was somewhat unexpected – his strike partner Jovic went to Real Madrid, Rebic joined AC Milan, in fact, Alai was supposed to have the opportunity to join a club that was more competitive than West Ham United. For the national team, Alai chose the Ivorian national team – in Côte d'Ivoire, he is undoubtedly the star player, but in France, his competitors in the front line include players such as Giroud, Mbappe, Martial, and even The later returning Benzema. Still, many regret that Alai did not choose France, as a tall pivot centre-forward can often make a lot of differences to the team, which is a very important value for Allai on the pitch.
Alai failed to play at the level expected at West Ham, but fortunately Alai was reborn at Ajax, a traditional Dutch powerhouse with a lot of skilled and opportunity-creating players, which allowed Alai to unleash his goal-scoring instincts in front of goal. Many of Alai's goals are not difficult to score in front of goal, but this is one of the ways Alai is used to scoring - in fact, Alai is a player with a very modern style of play, he also likes to break through with the ball, but in "Jafu", Alai spends more energy on the fatal blow in front of goal - for a center forward, perhaps scoring is the best way to prove his worth, can the 27-year-old Alai continue to continue his current fiery state and truly become the best center forward in European football?
(Santiago-Wang)