Saphir Sliti Taïder (; 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 lea ...

who plays for Gulf United as a

central midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Born in France, he played for the Algeria national team. After beginning professionally with

Grenoble Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...

in 2010, Taïder spent most of his career in Italy, representing

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

(two spells),

Internazionale Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Since 1 ...

and

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; ) 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 is best known for being the centre of the Ita ...

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

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. 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 list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

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 org ...

Club career

Grenoble

Taïder made his professional debut with

on 15 May 2010 in a league match against

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. 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 Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

. A day later, it was announced Taïder was signed by

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

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

on a four-year contract for a €5.5 million transfer fee, plus the loan of Diego Laxalt. 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 ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, 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 B. ...

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

on 22 September. On 4 December, in his only

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

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

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie 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 season. It had b ...

club

Trapani Trapani ( ; ; ) is a city and municipality (''comune'') with 54,887 inhabitants, 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 important fishing port and the mai ...

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

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

side

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

on a season-long loan, in exchange for Dani Osvaldo. He played his only match three days later, replacing James Ward-Prowse in the 61st minute of a 1–0 home friendly defeat to

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen, officially known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH () and commonly known as Bayer Leverkusen or simply Leverkusen, is a German professional football club based in Leverkusen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It competes in the B ...

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

San Siro San Siro is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy. It has a seating capacity of 75,817, making it the largest stadium in Italy and one of the largest stadiums in Europe. It is the home stadium of the city's principal ...

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, 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 professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

(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 Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

in what was also the first match for Impact manager

Rémi Garde Rémi Marie François 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 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 are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

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 Atlanta United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won one MLS Cup, one U.S. Open Cup, and one Eastern ...

. On 21 November 2019, Montreal opted to make his move permanent.

Al-Ain

On 14 October 2020, signed with

Al-Ain Al Ain () is a city in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and the seat of the administrative division of the Al Ain Region. The city is bordered to the east by the Omani town of Al-Buraimi. Al Ain is the largest inland city in ...

ahead of their inaugural season in the

Saudi Professional League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

Gulf United

On 28 August 2024, signed with Gulf United.

International career

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

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

against

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

. At the

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

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. 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 lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

by the same score after extra time in

Porto Alegre Porto Alegre (, ; , ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian Federative units of Brazil, state of Rio Grande do Sul. Its population of roughly 1.4 million inhabitants (2022) makes it the List of largest cities in Brazil, 11th-most p ...

. Taïder was chosen in coach Christian Gourcuff'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 and officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital city of Yamoussoukro is located in the centre of the country, while its largest List of ci ...

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 Nabil Taïder (; born 26 May 1983) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Born in France, he made four international appearances for Tunisia national football team, Tunisia, scoring one go ...

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 () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

References

External links