Sahteene Sednaoui-Smith
 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Sahteene Sednaoui-Smith | ||
| Date of birth | October 19, 2001 | ||
| Place of birth | Paris, France | ||
| Height | 1.65 m (5 ft 5 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Winger | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Manchester City | ||
| Number | 79 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2014 - 2018 | Manchester City | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020 - | Manchester City | 50 | (50) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Sahteene Sednaoui-Smith (born 19 October 2001) is a French model and professional footballer who currently plays for Manchester City as a winger. The daughter of French supermodel, Laetitia Casta, Sednaoui-Smith is also the stepdaughter of former English professional footballer, William Smith, known as one of the greatest footballers in the world and captain of the winning England national team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
The eldest child and daughter of French supermodel, Laetitia Casta, Sednaoui-Smith initially grew up in her birthplace of Paris, France, before later moving to the United Kingdom afterwards. Then, at the age of thirteen, Sednaoui-Smith began her career in football by playing for Manchester City at the youth level where, despite a promising track record, she proceeded to temporarily depart from football in order to pursue a short-lived career in modelling, before later returning back in 2020 to football to play for Manchester City once more after a two-year hiatus, where in her second year with the club, Sednaoui-Smith assisted the team to win both the Women's FA Cup and the FA Women's League Cup that year, while also earning her first Golden Boot award after scoring a total of twenty-seven matches across twenty-two Women's Super League matches.
Considered by many to be one of her generation's most promising youngsters, Sednaoui-Smith is well known for her pace, athleticism, and great dribbling ability, earning her the nickname "Little Eaglet" among fans and supporters, as well as frequent comparisons between herself and fellow French footballer, Kylian Mbappé, whom currently plays for Ligue 1 club, Paris Saint-Germain. Her half-brother, Thomas Smith, also currently plays for Manchester City, namely at the youth level.
Early Life
Originally born Sahteene Sednaoui on 19 October 2001, Sednaoui-Smith was the eldest daughter and firstborn child of French supermodel, Laetitia Casta, whom at the time of her daughter's birth, was in a relationship with French director, Stephane Sednaoui.
Football Career
Youth Prospect
For the first few years or so, Sednaoui-Smith largely grew up in her hometown of Paris, France under her mother's care when, at around the age of six, she subsequently moved to neighbouring United Kingdom after her mother began a relationship with rising English footballer, William Smith. As a result, initial exposure to football from her mother's partner gradually drew a young Sednaoui-Smith to the sport, although at first, the young teenager, by her own admission afterwards, appeared rather hesitant or unconvinced outside of playing it on an occasional basis for her personal enjoyment. However, Smith's historic victory as captain of the England national football team at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he led England to its second-ever World Cup title after the previous one in 1966, proved to be the ultimate "deal-breaker" in finally motivating the teenage Sednaoui-Smith to take her interest in football more seriously, which she did so by subsequently enlisting for Manchester City as a youth player for a period of eight years, lasting from 2014 to 2018 when, despite a somewhat promising track record, Sednaoui-Smith momentarily dropped out of football in order to try and pursue a career in modelling, hoping to emulate her supermodel mother instead. However, her modelling career only proved to be a modest success overall, and the subsequent arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in January 2020 led her to abruptly end her modelling career for good.
Senior Career
In that same year, shortly after ending her career in modelling, Sednaoui-Smith, reportedly after some convincing and encouragement, opted to re-enlist into Manchester City, this time as a senior player for the club, a move that proved to be an immediate success. Then, on 29 August 2020, Sednaoui-Smith, whom started off as a substitute for the match, soon made her mark by scoring her first and only goal in the Community Shield match against Chelsea at the 21st minute, an effort that ultimately proved not enough to avoid a narrow 1-2 defeat to their opponents, with Erin Cuthbert's late 91st-minute goal decisively breaking the initial 1-1 deadlock. Nonetheless, her performance in that season of the Women's Super League appeared somewhat commendable, with Sednaoui-Smith scoring nineteen goals across all twenty-two matches, the highest among her teammates in the squad, although Manchester City itself fell short of winning the league outright. Conversely, on both occasions in the Women's FA Cup and the FA Women's League Cup, where Sednaoui-Smith herself scored six and four goals respectively, Manchester City twice lost to Chelsea, while the club's journey in the Champions League was ultimately cut short following a narrow 3-4 defeat to Barcelona.
In the following 2021-22 season, in the case of the Women's Super League, Sednaoui-Smith greatly improved upon her previous performance, scoring twenty-seven goals across twenty-two matches, a number that led her to subsequently win her first Golden Boot award that year. In addition to this, while once more unsuccessful in winning the Women's Super League, Manchester City, under whom Sednaoui-Smith is now considered to be a regular starter, won both the Women's FA Cup and the FA Women's League Cup that year, beating Chelsea on both occasions. However, in the Champions League tournament, the club, after having progressed to the quarter-finals, was defeated once more by Barcelona, thereby cutting their journey in the tournament short.