Wikipedia

Melker Hallberg

Melker Hallberg (born 20 October 1995) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Kalmar FF.[1]

Melker Hallberg
Personal information
Full name Charles Melker Otto Hallberg
Date of birth (1995-10-20) 20 October 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth Ljungbyholm, Sweden
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Kalmar FF
Number 5
Youth career
Möre BK
2010–2011 Kalmar FF
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Kalmar FF 54 (6)
2014–2018 Udinese 4 (0)
2015 → Vålerenga (loan) 10 (2)
2016 → Hammarby IF (loan) 12 (1)
2016 → Ascoli (loan) 7 (1)
2017–2018 → Kalmar FF (loan) 40 (2)
2018–2019 Vejle BK 25 (1)
2019–2022 Hibernian 45 (1)
2022–2023 St Johnstone 44 (2)
2023– Kalmar FF 39 (4)
International career‡
2010–2012 Sweden U17 19 (0)
2012–2014 Sweden U19 9 (1)
2013–2017 Sweden U21 23 (3)
2016–2019 Sweden 3 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 November 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 11 January 2019

Hallberg began his senior career at Kalmar FF, then in 2014, he signed for Italian club Udinese, and during his time there went on loan to Vålerenga, Hammarby IF, Ascoli and Kalmar FF. He signed for Vejle BK in 2018, where he spent one season. Hallberg then played in three seasons for Scottish club Hibernian. He made his full international debut for the Sweden national team in 2016, and has won a total of three caps and scored one goal.

Career

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Early career

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Hallberg grew up in the small town of Ljungbyholm, shortly to the south of Kalmar. There he started with the local club Möre BK where he played for the first team in the seventh tier of Swedish football at age thirteen.[2]

In 2010 Hallberg was brought into the Kalmar FF youth section. Two years later he became the youngest-ever first-team player for the club when he made his Allsvenskan debut at the age of sixteen.[3] On July 15, 2012, Hallberg became the fourth-youngest Allsvenskan goalscorer of all time when he scored the game-winning 2–1 goal against IF Elfsborg.[4] In December 2012 he signed a new four-year contract extension.[3] After his second season in Allsvenskan as a seventeen-year-old, Hallberg was ranked as the 14th-best player in the league by newspaper Expressen.[5]

Udinese

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In August 2014, Hallberg signed for Italian club Udinese. He made his debut in January 2015.

In 2015, he was loaned out to Norwegian club Vålerenga Fotball, and in 2016 he was loaned out to Hammarby Fotboll in his native Sweden.

Vejle BK

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Hallberg joined Danish club Vejle Boldklub in the summer 2018. He left the club at the end of the 2018–19 season.[6]

Hibernian

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Hallberg signed a three-year contract with Scottish Premiership club Hibernian in August 2019.[7] He scored his first goal for the club in a Scottish League Cup tie against Celtic on 2 November 2019.[8] He was released from his contract with Hibernian in January 2022.[9]

St Johnstone

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Following his release by Hibernian, Hallberg signed an 18-month contract with St Johnstone in January 2022.[10] After prolonged renegotiations, Hallberg left The Saints in July 2023.[11]

Return to Kalmar

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In August 2023, Hallberg returned to his first club Kalmar FF on a contract until the end of the season.[12]

International career

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Hallberg has featured regularly at all age levels of Swedish youth national teams. In August 2013 he got selected for the first time ever to the Swedish U21 squad in a friendly against Norway.[13] He was selected for Sweden squads in January 2016[14] and January 2019.[15]

Career statistics

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As of 6 May 2023[16][17]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Kalmar FF 2012 Allsvenskan 11 1 1[a] 0 — 3[b] 0 15 1
2013 Allsvenskan 29 4 2[a] 0 — — 31 4
2014 Allsvenskan 14 1 0 0 — — 14 1
Total 54 6 3 0 0 0 3 0 60 6
Udinese 2014–15 Serie A 4 0 1 0 0 0 — 5 0
2015–16 Serie A 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2016–17 Serie A 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2017–18 Serie A 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
Total 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
Vålerenga (loan) 2015 Tippeligaen 10 2 0 0 — — 10 2
Hammarby IF (loan) 2016 Allsvenskan 12 1 4[c] 1 — — 16 2
Ascoli (loan) 2016–17 Serie B 7 1 1 0 — — 8 1
Kalmar FF (loan) 2017 Allsvenskan 27 2 3[d] 0 — — 30 2
2018 Allsvenskan 13 0 3[e] 0 — — 16 0
Total 40 2 6 0 0 0 0 0 46 2
Vejle BK 2018–19 Danish Superliga 25 1 0 0 — 2[f] 0 27 1
Hibernian 2019–20 Scottish Premiership 20 1 3 0 2 1 — 25 2
2020–21 Scottish Premiership 25 0 4 0 6 1 — 35 1
2021–22 Scottish Premiership 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
Total 45 1 8 0 8 2 0 0 61 3
St Johnstone 2021–22 Scottish Premiership 14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 0
2022–23 Scottish Premiership 30 2 1 0 4 1 — 35 3
Total 44 2 1 0 4 1 0 0 49 3
Career total 241 16 24 1 12 3 5 0 283 20
  1. ^ a b Appearances in the 2012–13 Svenska Cupen
  2. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Appearances in the 2015–16 Svenska Cupen
  4. ^ Appearances in the 2016–17 Svenska Cupen
  5. ^ Appearances in the 2017–18 Svenska Cupen
  6. ^ Appearances in the Danish Superliga Relegation round

International

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Appearances and goals by national team and year[18]
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 2016 2 1
2017 0 0
2018 0 0
2019 1 0
Total 3 1
Scores and results list Sweden's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Hallberg goal.
List of international goals scored by Melker Hallberg
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 10 January 2016 Armed Forces Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates   Finland 2–0 3–0 Friendly [19]

Honours

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Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Melker Hallberg" (in Swedish). Svenskfotboll. Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Stortalangens första mål sänkte Elfsborg" (in Swedish). Expressen. 16 July 2012. Archived from the original on 24 March 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Fyraårskontrakt för Melker Hallberg" (in Swedish). Kalmar FF. Archived from the original on 24 September 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  4. ^ "Tuffare Hallberg ska slå sig in på mitten" (in Swedish). Östran. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  5. ^ "Här är allsvenskans 50 bästa spelare - år 2013" (in Swedish). Expressen. 6 November 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  6. ^ Vejle siger farvel til svensk midt, bold.dk, 24 June 2019
  7. ^ "Melker Hallberg: Hibernian sign Swedish midfielder from Udinese". BBC Sport. 23 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  8. ^ "Hibernian 2-5 Celtic". BBC Sport. 2 November 2019. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Runar Hauge: Hibernian close to securing 20-year-old Bodo/Glimt winger". BBC Sport. 27 January 2022. Retrieved 27 January 2022.
  10. ^ "Melker Hallberg: St Johnstone sign midfielder from Hibs on 18-month deal". BBC Sport. 28 January 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2022.
  11. ^ Hamilton, Sean (5 July 2023). "St Johnstone pull Melker Hallberg deal off table as Steven MacLean reveals half-time warning v Dunfermline". The Courier. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
  12. ^ "MELKER HALLBERG KLAR FÖR KALMAR FF" [MELKER HALLBERG READY FOR KALMAR FF]. kalmarff.se (in Swedish). 11 August 2023. Retrieved 14 August 2023.
  13. ^ "Hallberg tar nu plats i U21-landslagstruppen" (in Swedish). Expressen. 6 August 2013. Archived from the original on 9 August 2013. Retrieved 13 August 2013.
  14. ^ "Hallberg ersätter Olsson i Abu Dahbi". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). 15 December 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  15. ^ "Sweden vs. Iceland". ESPN. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
  16. ^ "Eliteprospects.com - Melker Hallberg". Eliteprospects. 20 August 2014. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
  17. ^ Melker Hallberg at Soccerway. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  18. ^ "Melker Hallberg - Spelarstatistik - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se. (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 June 2021.
  19. ^ "Sverige - Finland - Matchfakta - Svensk fotboll". www.svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Retrieved 3 June 2021.
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