20 Facts About Christian Salem

Christian Salem was born on 15 July 1995 and is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League.

Christian Salem was recognised as a talented footballer at a young age when he represented Victoria at under 12 level.

Christian Salem played top-level football early when he played in both the TAC Cup and AFL Under 18 Championships as a bottom-aged player.

Christian Salem was born to Alex and Mary Christian Salem, and is of Lebanese descent with his father being born in Lebanon.

Christian Salem's talent was recognised from a young age when he received state selection in the under-12 Victorian side.

Christian Salem played his junior career with the Hampton Rovers Football Club and played for the Sandringham Dragons in the TAC Cup in both 2012 and 2013.

Christian Salem was selected to play for Victoria Metro in the 2012 AFL Under 18 Championships as a bottom-aged player and played in the winning final, kicking two goals.

Christian Salem received a scholarship through the AIS-AFL Academy as part of their level two squad in the 2012 intake, and travelled to Europe for two weeks in 2013.

Christian Salem received mid-year state honours for the second consecutive year and played for Victoria Metro in the 2013 AFL Under 18 Championships.

Christian Salem was rated highly heading into the 2013 AFL draft and was predicted to be drafted inside the top ten due to his decision making and kicking precision, in addition, he drew comparisons to Luke Hodge, Nick Dal Santo and Dan Hannebery.

Christian Salem was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with their first selection and ninth overall in the 2013 national draft.

Christian Salem played the start of the season in the Victorian Football League for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions, and after strong form in the VFL, including a thirty-two possession game in the VFL round three match against Frankston at Frankston Park, he made his AFL debut a week later in the thirty-one point loss against Sydney at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round six.

Christian Salem finished his debut season with twelve matches and senior Herald Sun football writer, Jay Clark, wrote he had the potential to become one of Melbourne's best players.

Christian Salem played the remainder of the season and finished with ten matches overall.

Christian Salem returned two weeks later for the thirty-two point loss against the Western Bulldogs at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Christian Salem subsequently missed the grand final, in which Casey lost to Footscray by thirty-one points at Etihad Stadium.

Christian Salem played the first nine matches of the season, until he was suspended for the round ten match against Gold Coast at TIO Traeger Park due to striking North Melbourne's, Shaun Higgins, in the fourteen point loss the week before.

Missing just the one match from rounds one to fourteen, Christian Salem was forced to miss four weeks of football after sustaining a hamstring injury during the three-point win against West Coast at Domain Stadium in round fourteen.

Christian Salem returned for the twenty-three point win against Port Adelaide at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round eighteen, and played three matches before he was omitted for the round twenty-one match against St Kilda at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Christian Salem returned for the final round match against Collingwood at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and finished with sixteen matches for the season.