Sébastien Haller: ‘I don’t blame Moyes. I wasn’t the striker he needed’

There is something unusual about the list of top scorers in the Champions League this season. Robert Lewandowski is not top, and neither is Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Mohamed Salah or Erling Haaland.

Instead it is a forward who was let go by West Ham in January 2021 at a loss of £25m after 13 months at the club. Step forward Ajax’s Sébastien Haller, who had never played in the Champions League before this season.

It is a remarkable turnaround for the 27-year-old, whose 10 goals in the group phase are a record for a debutant. Not that he cares about records. “I’m keeping an eye on it, but only because friends, family and teammates remind me about it,” he tells the Guardian. “In fact five minutes ago Steven [Berghuis, his Ajax teammate] did. I’m not obsessed with it. I may have broken some records but mine will be broken as well. To me it matters more that we keep winning.”

Ajax won all their Champions League group games in a tough group with Borussia Dortmund, Sporting and Besiktas. Haller scored in every match, making his biggest mark in the opening fixture in Lisbon against Sporting, scoring four goals in a 5-1 rout. On Wednesday they face Benfica in the last 16 in the same city, although Haller says he has not watched back that memorable night.

“Everything I do on the pitch is stuck in my head,” he says. “Especially the chances I miss. Against Besiktas for example I missed three headers. I am a perfectionist. I don’t think: ‘Oh wow, I have scored 10’ I think: ‘It should have been 13, 14, 15.’” His perfectionism goes all the way down to how he cuts the lemon for his sparkling water and means he does not smile a lot on the pitch,even after scoring. “Ask anyone – I like a laugh off the pitch but on